



£-*-Z*n*^j. 




i LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. # 



| UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. \ 



ARMINIANI. 




INCONSISTENCIES AND ERRORS; 



IN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT ALL THE 



DISTINCTIVE DOCTRINES OF THE PRESBYTERIAN 
CONFESSION OF FAITH 



ASS TAUGHT BY 



VDARD WRITERS OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH. 



/^7 



Rev. HENRY BROWN 
♦ » » 



PHILADELPHIA : 

WILLIAM S. & ALFRED MARTIEN, 
1857. 



TSI LIBRAE 1 
%? CONGRESS] 

WASHINGTON 



.365- 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 185?, by 

HENKY BKOWK, 

In the Office of the Clerk of the District Court for the Eastern 
District of Pennsylvania, 



CONTENTS 



Page. 
CHAPTER I. 
The Fall of Man 13 

CHAPTER II. 
Condition of Man since the Fall 19 

CHAPTER III. 
Justice of the Sentence passed on fallen Man 27 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Arminian doctrine of Divine Justice 33 

CHAPTER V. 
The Spiritual Death which made a part of the penalty of 
Adam's transgression 39 

CHAPTER VI. 
Free agency of Man, self-determining power of the will, &c. 45 

CHAPTER TIL 
The Omniscience of God • 58 

CHAPTER VIII. 
The Divine Decrees 72 

CHAPTER IX. 
The Doctrine of Election 89 

CHAPTER X. 
The Atonement 115 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XI. 
Effectual Calling 130 

* CHAPTER XII. 

Objections to the foregoing. No Scripture can prove Pre- 
destination — it leads to the idea of infant damnation — 
necessarily involves the doctrine of irresistible grace — 
makes God partial — destroys Divine Justice — makes 
God the author of sin — renders the gospel unnecessary 
— destroys free-agency and accountability — is incon- 
sistent with the universal offer of the gospel — is a dis- 
couraging doctrine — leads to carelessness — tends to 
destroy religious comfort — leads to Infidelity — repre- 
sents Christ as a deceiver — tends to destroy meekness, 
love, &c. — holiness in general-— zeal for good works — 
paralyzes the efforts of benevolence — is connected with 
improper views of Baptism 152 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Misrepresentations 260 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Garbled quotations 287 

CHAPTER XV. 
Forgeries 297 

CHAPTER XVI. 
The final Perseverance of the Saints 308 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Imputed Righteousness 354 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Entire Sanctification 378 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Wesley's conversion to Arminianism 413 

CHAPTER XX. 
Review of Foster on Calvinism 419 



r R E F A C E. 



A preface to a book is almost universal. As in a 
discourse, so in the beginning of a book, it is proper to 
state the design of an author. This, in the present 
instance, however, is expressed so fully by the title, 
and in the first chapter, that such a preface is unne- 
cessary. 

The substance of what is here published, appeared 
originally in a series of numbers, in the Watchman 
and Observer, a religious newspaper of Richmond, Va. 
During the progress of the publication, repeated flat- 
tering notices of the effort were given, sometimes 
through the press, sometimes verbally, and sometimes 
by private letters; and, at the close, the request that 
it should be put into a more permanent form, was so 
extensive that the author did not feel at liberty to 
decline it. He has therefore revised, and somewhat 
enlarged the original. 

Some apology for defects may be found in the fact, 



X PREFACE. 

that he has prosecuted the work for the greater part 
of the time, under much debility, and amid the labours 
of a pastoral charge so extensive, that he was neces- 
sarily from home four days out of each week on an 
average, for more than eight months of the year. 

In quoting authorities, he has taken great pains to 
quote accurately ; but notwithstanding the Arminian 
authorities from which most of the quotations are 
taken are very common, yet as the different editions- 
are not uniform in size and type, the same pages of 
the different editions of the same works have not the 
same matter. This is true especially of Fisk's " Cal- 
vinistic Controversy," "Watson's Theological Insti- 
tutes," and the "Works of Wesley." The last, in- 
deed, have not always the same quantity of matter. 
The reader, therefore, who may desire to examine the 
quotations, may not always readily find them. As 
the "Calvinistic Controversy" consists of a sermon 
and fifteen numbers, it is to these the references are 
made, instead of the page. The edition of the Works 
of Wesley he quotes (unless otherwise noticed,) was 
published in 1831. 

All the Arminian authorities to which reference is 
made, have been published by order of the General 
Conference for the Methodist Episcopal Church, ex- 
cept the following, viz. 

"Southey's Life of Wesley," "Marriage Dinner," 



PREFACE. XI 

and the "Reply of the Rev. N. L. Bangs to Ilas- 
kel." 

The following, though not published by order of the 
General Conference, have been endorsed by the or- 
gans of the Methodist Church generally, viz. 

" Porter's Compendium of Methodism," and "Fos- 
ter's Objections to Calvinism." 

The " Sermons of Bishop Morris" are "published 
for the Methodist Episcopal Church, at the Book 
Concern in Cincinnati." " Whitehead's Life of 
Wesley" was "written at the request of Mr. Wesley's 
executors." The following extract from Mr. Wesley's 
will, shows what was his desire on that subject, viz. 

" I give all my manuscripts to Thomas Coke, Dr. 
Whitehead, and Henry Moore, to be burnt or pub- 
lished, as they see good.* 

From the " Advertisement" to the Biography, we 
learn, that Dr. Whitehead was appointed by said 
committee to write the book. Of this biography the 
publisher of the American edition says in the preface, 
" This was the first written Life of Wesley, prepared 
from authentic documents, and it is the only one which 
can rightfully claim the merit of impartiality." The 
American is the edition we quote. 

An edition of "Bledsoe's Theodicy" has been 

* Arminian Magazine for January, 1792, page 29. 



Xll PREFACE. 

issued, recently, by the Publishing Committee of the 
General Conference North, with unusual commenda- 
tion by the organs of that Church. " Methodism in 
Earnest," though an individual concern, is highly 
commended also. 

The Author. 



AEMINIAN 

INCONSISTENCIES AND ERRORS. 
CHAPTER I. 

THE FALL OF MAN. 

The title of this book explains the design of the 
author. Arminians suppose their system of theo- 
logy, in a great measure, free from difficulties, and 
especially from such difficulties as they attach to Cal- 
vinism. The writer undertakes to show, on the con- 
trary, that their standard authors maintain not only 
all the distinctive doctrines of Calvinism, as decidedly 
as Calvinists themselves, but that sometimes they go 
far beyond them : also that they are found frequently 
on two, or three, or four sides of the same question. 

The right and propriety even, of free discussion, is 
admitted. The cause that will not bear it, ought to 
be abandoned. The works to which we shall have 
occasion to refer, are before the public, and therefore, 
are public property. Added to this, Calvinists com- 
plain that these works do them great injustice. They 
may therefore be considered standing enemies, and 
every new edition, a new assault. Moreover, large 
anti-Calvinistic extracts are freely circulated in the 
form of Tracts. Surely then, a return fire can be 
properly considered nothing more than fighting in a 
war begun. 

To avoid confusion, it is proper to premise, that 
2 



14 THE FALL OF MAN. 

whenever we shall speak of Arminians, we mean the 
Methodist Episcopal Church; and by Arminianism, 
the doctrines taught by standard writers in that 
Church. By Calvinism, we mean the doctrines con- 
tained in the Presbyterian Confession of Faith and 
Catechisms; and by Calvinists, we mean those who 
adopt those standards fully. If others than those 
here named shall be alluded to, it will appear from 
the connection. 

It is to be regretted that Arminians have not a 
much more definite and extended Confession of Faith. 
It is due to themselves as a bond of union, and to the 
public generally. He who expects to find their creed 
in their Articles of Religion, will be disappointed; 
and he who goes to their standard writers, will find 
them in conflict, on every distinctive doctrine. Take 
for example, the fall of man. 

That "by one man sin entered into the world"* is 
admitted. Could this have been prevented without 
infringing on human liberty? Here Arminians are at 
variance. Dr. Bangs says, " The power of God was 
vnquestionably sufficient to have prevented the first 
man from sinning, had not infinite wisdom and good- 
ness dictated the superior fitness of creating a free 
responsible agent. To say that the power of God 
was adequate to have prevented man, as a free agent, 
from sinning, is a contradiction. In what does sin 
consist? Is it not the voluntary transgression of the 
law? If so, to say that the power of God could have 
prevented man from sinning, without depriving him 
of hi3 free agency, is to say, that man could have 
been a free agent, and not a free agent at the same 
time, which is a contradiction. God must then, to 
have prevented man from sinning, have deprived him 
of the power to sin, which would have been to destroy 
the peculiar characteristic of man, namely his respon- 

* Rom. v. 12. 



THE FALL OF MAN. 15 

sibility. So that, to have prevented man from sin- 
ning, would have been to have divested him of that 
essential property of his nature, by which alone, he 
was capable of committing sin, I mean his free 
agency."* 

The Rev. Richard Watson says, " "We may confi- 
dently say, that God willed the contrary of Adam's 
offence, and used all means, consistent with his deter- 
mination to give and maintain free agency to his 
creatures, to secure the accomplishment of his will." 
" He willed with perfect truth that man should not 
fall, although he resolved not to prevent the fall by 
interfering with man's freedom." (Theological Insti- 
tutes, Part II. Chap, xxviii.) Professor Bledsoe says, 
"Although sin exists, we vindicate the character of 
God 'on the ground that it is an inherent impossibility 
to exclude all evil from a moral universe. This is 
the high, impregnable ground of the true Christian 
Theist." 

" The argument assumes that a being of infinite 
power could prevent sin, and cause holiness to exist. 
It assumes that it is possible, that it implies no con- 
tradiction, to create an intelligent moral agent, and 
place it beyond the possibility of sinning. But this 
is a mistake. Almighty power itself, we say it with 
the most profound reverence, cannot create such a 
being, and place it beyond the possibility of sin- 

The opinion which maintains the opposite of this, 
he calls, u a weak crazy thing" — u a contradiction" — 
"an impossible conceit" — "a little, distorted image 
of human weakness." Theodicy, pp. 197, 198. 

From these quotations it follows, 

1. That Satan has a better knack of managing free 
agents than God. 

* Reply to Haskel, pp. 23, 24. 



16 THE TALL OF MAN, 

2. That man and the devil are each an over- 
match for the Almighty, they having power to do as 
they please, while he is obliged to do as he can, when 
he cannot do as he would. But could not God have 
made a Paradise without the tree of knowledge of 
good and evil? Could he not have excluded the 
tempter from Eden, or have worked in " man both to 
will and to do of his good pleasure?" Philip, ii. 13. 
Did he not, without destroying the free agency of 
Abimelech, withhold him from sinning against Abra- 
ham ? Gen. xx. 6. Did he not, without infringing 
on the liberty of Esau, prevent him from killing his 
brother ? Though the former came against the latter, 
at the head of four hundred men, was any one ever 
more conscious of freedom than he, when he ran and 
fell on the neck of Jacob and embraced him ? Gen. 
xxxii. 6. Was Jehovah mistaken when he said, "My 
counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure?" 
Isa. xlvii. 10. Is it not true that "he doeth accord- 
ing to his will in the army of heaven, and among the 
inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand ?"* 
that "what his soul desireth, even that he doeth, "f 
and that "he hath done whatsoever he pleased?" 
Psalm cxv. 3. 

But if God cannot govern free agents on earth with- 
out destroying their free agency, can he govern them 
anywhere else? Is there then the least security that 
he may not yet be stript of all his dominions ? The 
Calvinistic and scriptural view of Dr. Adam Clarke, 
Messrs. Wesley and Watson, though arrayed against 
the Arminianism of Watson, Bledsoe and Bangs, 
should set it aside. "All power," says Dr. A. Clarke, 
"must emanate from God; hence sin and Satan can 
neither exist nor act except as he wills, or permits." 
(Clarke's Theology, p. 80.) "Though all hell should 

* Dan. iv. 35. f Job xxxiii. 13. 



THE FALL OF MAN. 17 

join together to hinder the accomplishment of the 
Most High, it should be in vain. . . Such is his potency, 
that it can do all things that do not imply absurdity 
and contradiction. It can do anything, in any way 
it pleases, and when it pleases; and it will do any- 
thing that is necessary to be done, which ought to be 
done." Ibid. p. 71. Mr. Wesley asks, "Was it not 
easy for the Almighty to have prevented the fall ? He 
certainly did foresee the whole, . . and it wa3 undoubt- 
edly in his power to have prevented it, for he hath 
all power in heaven and on earth. But it was known 
to him, at the same time, that it was best on the 
whole, not to prevent it."* 

The Rev. Richard Watson says, u By the aid of 
Revelation, we are assured that benevolence is so 
absolutely the motive and end of Divine Providence, 
that thus to dispose of man (viz. place him in a* state 
of trial on earth) and consequently permit his volun- 
tary fall, is consistent with (the divine goodness.) 
But in what manner it is so, is involved in obscurity. 
But the fact being established, we may well be con- 
tent to wait for the development of the great process, 
which shall justify the ways of God to man, without 
indulging in speculations, which, for want of all the 
facts of the case before us, must always be to a great 
extent without foundation, and may even seriously 
mislead. This we know, that the entrance of sin into 
the world has given occasion for the tenderest display 
of the divine goodness, in the'gift of the great Res- 
torer, and opened to all who avail themselves of the 
blessing, the gate to glory, honour, immortality, and 
eternal life."f 

Such sentiments are, 

1. Scriptural. According to Arminianism, man 
and devils reign, and do their pleasure among the 

:f Sermon on God's love to fallen man. 
f Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. vi. 
2* 



18 THE FALL OF MAN. 

inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay their 
hands." But according to these sentiments " The 
Lord reigneth" * * * and though "clouds and 
darkness are round about him, righteousness and 
judgment are the habitation of his throne." Psalm 
xcvii. 2. "Whatsoever he pleased, that did he in 
heaven, and in earth, in the sea, and in all deep 
places." Psalm cxxxv. 6. 

2. They are Calvinistic. The Presbyterian Con- 
fession of Faith says, Chap. vi. Sec. 1, "Our first 
parents being seduced by the subtilty and temptation of 
Satan, sinned in eating the forbidden fruit. This their 
sin, God was pleased, according to his wise and holy 
counsel, to permit, having purposed to order it for his 
own glory." 

John Knox says, "If there be anything which God 
did not predestinate, or appoint, then lacked he free 
regimen. Or if anything was ever done, or yet shall 
be done, in heaven, or. in earth, which he might not 
have impeded, if so had been his godly pleasure, then, 
he is not omnipotent: which three properties, viz. 
wisdom, free regimen, and power denied to God, I 
pray you, what rests in the Godhead?" McCrie's Life 
of Knox, p. 138. 

And now to crown the whole, take the following 
from Hymn 397 of the Methodist Hymn-book. 

"Speak to my warring passions 'Peace!' 
Say to my trembling soul 'Be still!' 
Thy power my strength, and fortress is, 
For all things serve thy sovereign will." 

"All things serve thy sovereign will." Here is 
Calvinism to the core. We quote from the book in 
use before the Church was divided. 



19 



CHAPTER II. 

THE CONDITION OF MAN SINCE THE FALL. 

What is the condition of man since the fall of our 
first parents ? Arminians, in common with Calvin- 
ists, speak of him as being under the condemnation 
of the original offenders, and as exposed to the full 
penalty of the original offence. Arminius, as quoted 
by Watson, says " The whole of this (the first sin of 
the first man) is not peculiar to our first parents, but 
is common to all their posterity, who at the time when 
the first sin was committed were in their loins, and 
who afterwards descended from them in the natural 
mode of propagation. 'For in Adam all have sin- 
ned.'* Whatever punishment therefore, was inflicted 
on our first parents, has pervaded all their posterity, 
and still oppresses them : so that all are ' by nature 
the children of wrath, 'f obnoxious to condemnation, 
and to death temporal and eternal; and lastly, are 
devoid of that (primeval) righteousness, and holiness. 
With which evils they would continue oppressed for 
ever, unless they were delivered by Jesus Christ." 
(Theol. Inst., Part II. Chap, xviii.) Mr. Wesley says, 
u I am fully persuaded that every man of the offspring 
of Adam, is very far gone from original righteous- 
ness, and is, of his own nature, inclined to evil, and 
that this corruption of our .nature, in every person 
born into the world, deserves God's wrath and damna- 
tion.";!; 

The General Conference says " That we are all 
born under the guilt of Adam's sin, and that all sin 
deserves eternal misery, was the unanimous sense of 
the ancient church." After showing that this is in 

* Rom. v. f Epli. ii. 31. J Works, Vol. V. page 255. 



20 CONDITION OF MAN SINCE THE FALL. 

accordance with the teachings of the Scriptures, they 
say, "It has been already proved that this original 
stain cleaves to every child of man, and that hereby 
they are children of wrath, and liable to eternal dam- 
nation."* 

Rev. R. Watson says, "The death threatened to 
Adam we conclude to have extended to the soul of 
man, as well as to the body, though not in the sense 
of annihilation." By an "appeal to the Scriptures" 
he says, " it will be seen that the opinion of those 
divines who include in the penalty attached to the 
original offence, bodily, spiritual and eternal death, 
stands firm on inspired testimony."! 

"The next question," he says, "is whether Adam 
is to be considered as a mere individual, the conse- 
quences of whose misconduct terminated in himself, or 
whether he is to be regarded as a public man the head 
and representative of the human race, who, in conse- 
quence of his fall, have fallen with him, and received 
direct hurt and injury in the very constitution of their 
bodies, and the moral state of their minds." " On 
this point," he says, "the testimony of Scripture is 
so explicit that all attempts to evade it have been in 
vain." He then proves most conclusively by the 
Scriptures, that "Adam is to be regarded as the head 
and representative of the human race," &c; after 
which he says, " The first consequence of this imputa- 
tion (of his sin,) is, the death of the body, to which, 
all his descendants are made liable, and that on ac- 
count of the sin of Adam. ' Through the offence of 
one many be dead.' ' Rom. v. 15. 

"The second consequence is death spiritual. . . . 
This, we have before seen, was included in the origi- 
nal threatening, and if Adam was a public person, a 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 246, 247, 251. 
f Theol. Inst., Part II. Chap, xviii. 



CONDITION OF MAN SINCE THE FALL. 21 

representative, it has passed on to his descendants, 
who, in their natural state, are said therefore to be 
'dead in trespasses and sins.'" 

" The third consequence is eternal death — separa- 
tion from God, and endless banishment from his glory 
in a future state." Ibid. 

Again he says, "Having established the import of 
the death threatened as the penalty of Adam's trans- 
gression, to include, corporal, spiritual and eternal 
death, and showed that the sentence included the 
whole of his posterity," &c. Ibid. 

Now that the teaching of these divines, in the 
above quotations, is Calvinistic in the strictest sense, 
appears by comparing it with the following quotation 
from the Presbyterian Confession of Faith. "Our 
first parents being seduced by the subtilty and temp- 
tation of Satan, sinned in eating the forbidden fruit. . . 
By this sin they fell from their original righteousness 
and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, 
and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of 
soul and body. They being the root of all mankind, 
the guilt of this sin was imputed, and the same death 
in sin, and corrupted nature, conveyed to all their pos- 
terity, descending from them, by ordinary genera- 
tion 

"Every sin, both original and actual, being a trans- 
gression of the righteous law of God, and contrary 
thereunto, doth, in its own nature, bring guilt upon 
the sinner, whereby he is bound over to the wrath of 
God, and curse of the law, and so made subject to 
death, with all miseries, spiritual, temporal, and eter- 
nal." Confession of Faith, Chap. vi. 

We will show next, that Methodists contradict 
flatly as Pelagians, what they have here taught as 
Calvinists. Mr. Wesley says, " In consideration of 
this, that the Son of God hath tasted death for every 
man, God hath now reconciled the world unto himself, 



22 CONDITION OF MAN SINCE THE FALL. 

not imputing to them former trespasses." (Sermon 
on Justification by Faith.) " That text, as by one 
man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the 
obedience of one shall many be made righteous, means, 
By the merits of Christ, all men are cleared from the 
guilt of Adam's sin." Works, Vol. V. page 196. 

The Rev. R. Watson says, " The false assumption 
that the whole race were personally, and individually, 
in consequence of Adam's fall, absolutely liable to 
eternal death, is easy to be refuted, on the clearest 
authority of Scripture, while not a passage can be 
adduced, which sanctions any such doctrine.* " On no 
scriptural principle, is the human race liable to per- 
sonal, and conscious eternal death for the sin of 
Adam."f 

Dr. Fisk and the General Conference say, " Through 
the grace of the gospel, all are born free from con- 
demnation."! Again they say, " The merits of the 
atonement are so far available for and in behalf of 
the whole human family, that, the guilt of depravity 
is not imputed to the subject of it, until by intelligent 
volition, he makes the guilt his own, by resisting and 
rejecting the grace of the gospel" — that "being by 
grace in a justified state, the dying infant is entitled 
to all the blessings of the new covenant" § — that "a 
remedy is provided which meets the exigencies of 
man's moral condition at the very commencement of 
his being" — that "it does this by preventing the 
imputation of guilt until man is capable of an intelli- 
gent survey of his moral conditon" || — that "sin may 
certainly exist, when it would not be just to impute 
it to the sinner," &c. ** 

Dr. Bond, editor of the Christian Advocate and 
Journal, says, Man is not "responsible for his ori- 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxviii. f Ibid. 

J Calvinistic Controversy, the Discourse. g Ibid. No. xi. 

II Ibid. ** Ibid. No. xii. 



CONDITION OF MAN SINCE THE FALL. 23 

ginal depravity or liable to punishment on account of 
his connate evil propensities, because he had no per- 
sonal agency in producing it, and had no ability to 
prevent it" — that "all this is washed away by the 
great atonement, so that every child born into the 
world is cleansed by the blood of Christ, and in a state 
of acceptance with God"* 

We were before told, that " the death threatened to 
Adam extended to the soul as well as to the body, 
and included in the penalty attached to the first 
offence, death bodily, spiritual and eternal" — that 
our first parents "stood before their Maker, as public 
persons, and as the legal representatives of their 
descendants," and " that the sentence (pronounced 
upon them) included the whole of their posterity" — 
that consequently "we are all born under the penalty 
of Adam's sin, and that all sin deserves eternal 
misery" — "that the whole race are obnoxious to the 
guilt and punishment of Adam's transgression" — 
"that this original stain cleaves to every child of 
man, and that thereby they are children of wrath, and 
liable to eternal damnation." 

AVe are now told however, that " by the merits of 
Christ, all men are cleared from the guilt of Adam's 
actual sin" — that "in consideration of this, that the 
Son of God hath tasted death for every man, God 
hath reconciled the world unto himself, not imputing 
to them former trespasses" — that " the false assump- 
tion that the whole race were personally and individ- 
ually, in consequence of Adam's fall, absolutely liable 
to eternal death, is easy to be refuted on the clearest 
authority of Scripture, while not a passage can be 
adduced which sanctions any such doctrine" — that 
"through the grace of the gospel all are born free 
from condemnation" — that "the merits of the atone- 

* Christian Advocate and Journal for June lGth, 1853. 



24 CONDITION OF MAN SINCE THE FALL. 

ment are so available for, and in behalf of the whole 
human family, that the guilt of depravity is not 
imputed to the subject of it, until by intelligent volition 
he makes the guilt his own, by resisting and rejecting 
the grace of the gospel" — that "being by grace in a 
justified state, the dying infant is entitled to all the 
promised blessings of the new covenant" — that "a 
remedy is provided, which meets the exigencies of 
man's moral condition at the very commencement of 
his being, by graciously preventing the imputation of 
guilt until man is capable of an intelligent survey of 
his moral condition ;" and that "sin may certainly 
exist where it would not be just to impute it to the 
sinner."* 

Parallel lines are not more opposite than the above 
statements. Of the two, the former has been shown 
to be Calvinistic and scriptural, but the latter Pela- 
gian and anti-scriptural. The former is therefore 
true, while the latter is false. But let us see how these 

* It may not be amiss, to hear what Dr. Fisk says of Pelagian- 
ism. "It has," says he, "a variety of shades, called Pelagian, 
Semi-pelagian &c. Its varieties however, relate to some minor 
modifications of the relation of the human family to Adam, natu- 
ral evil, the death of the body and greater exposure to temptation. 
But there is a uniformity in the essential part of the theory, which 
is that human nature is free from guilt or sin, until it becomes 
guilty by intelligent voluntary exercise." (Calvinistic Controversy, 
No. xi.) 

From this, it will be seen, that, Messrs. Wesley, Watson, Fisk, 
and the General Conference, were Pelagians. Dr. Fisk, it is true, 
immediately states his objections to Pelagianism as "in direct oppo- 
sition to the Scripture doctrine of human depravity" — the "moral 
character of infants" — "the Scripture doctrine of regeneration," &c. 
Mr. Wesley however, endorses it fully : "I would not affirm," sayshe, 
"that the arch-heretic of the fifth century (as plentifully as he has 
been bespattered for many ages) was not one of the holiest men of 
that age," * * * "I verily believe the real heresy of Pela- 
gius was neither more or less than this : The holding that Chris- 
tians may by the grace of God (not without it, that I take to be a 
mere slander) go on to perfection ; or in other words, fulfil the law 
of Christ." (Sermon on the Wisdom of God's counsels.) 



CONDITION OP MAN SINCE THE FALL. 25 

same divines refute their own false theology. Mr. 
Wesley in his Review of Taylor on Original Sin, says, 
"If no other (than our first parents) was justly pun- 
ishable, then no other was punished for that trans- 
gression. But all were punished for it with death, 
therefore all were justly punished for it." Again he 
says, " God does not look upon infants as innocent, 
but as involved in the guilt of Adam's sin ; otherwise, 
death, the punishment of sin, could not be inflicted on 
them." Works, Vol. V. pp. 52(3, 577. 

Mr. Watson says, " It has been fully established 
that the full penalty of Adam's offence passed upon 
his posterity. A full provision to meet the case is 
indeed made in the gospel, but that does not affect 
the state in which men are born."* "As to infants, 
they are not born justified, and regenerate, so that to 
say, original sin is taken away as to infants, is not a 
correct view of the case."f "For there is no more 
reason to conclude, that those children who die in in- 
fancy, were born with a purer nature than they who 
live to manhood; and the fact of their being born lia- 
ble to death, a part of the penalty, shows that they 
were born under the whole malediction. "J 

This reasoning is conclusive. But while it over- 
throws the Pelagianism of these divines, it establishes 
their Calvinism. 

But, says the Rev. R. Watson, "Before any issue 
proceeded from the first pair, they were restored to 
the divine favour. Had no method of forgiveness and 
restoration been established with respect to human 
offenders, the penalty of death must have been forth- 
with executed upon them . . and with and in them, 
the human race must have utterly perished."§ 

Dr. Fisk says, "We believe that by Adam's unne- 
cessitated sin, he, and in him, all his posterity, became 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xviii. f Ibid. 

% Ibid. \ Theol. Institutes, Part II. Chap. xix. 

3 



26 CONDITION OF MAN SINCE THE FALL. 

obnoxious to the curse of the divine law. As the 
first man sinned personally and actively, he "was per- 
sonally condemned ; but as his posterity had no agency 
or personal existence, they could only have perished 
seminally in him. By the promise of a Saviour how- 
ever, our federal head was restored to the possibility 
of obtaining salvation through faith in the Redeemer, 
and in this restoration all the seminal generations 
of men were included." (Calvinistic Controversy, the 
Sermon.) 

Here then we are taught, that but for the plan of sal- 
vation through Christ, our first parents, and with them, 
all their posterity would "have been forthwith cut 
off, by the infliction of death, the penalty of their sin ; 
but that on account of that interposition, this penalty 
was suspended." For a complete refutation of the 
idea that such consequences would have followed im- 
mediately, but for that interposition, see Edwards on 
" Original Sin," Part II. Chap. iii. Sec. 1. As to 
the actual infliction of the penalty, take the following 
from Wesley. 

Speaking of Adam after he had sinned, he says, 
" He lost the life of God; he was separated from him 
in union with whom his spiritual life consisted. The 
body dies when it is separated from the soul, the soul 
when it is separated from God. But this separation 
from God, Adam sustained in the day, in the hour he 
ate the forbidden fruit." "And in Adam all died, 
all human kind, all the children of men that were 
then in Adam's loins. The natural consequence of 
this is, that every one descended from him comes into 
the world spiritually dead, dead to God, wholly dead 
in sin, entirely void of the life of God, void of the 
image of God, of all that righteousness, and holiness, 
wherein Adam was created." (Sermon on the New 
Birth.) ^ 



27 



CHAPTER III. 

JUSTICE OF THE SENTENCE PASSED ON FALLEN MAN. 

Was it just in God, to impute the sin of our first 
parents, and the penalty annexed thereto, to their 
posterity? The General Conference says, "We are 
all born under the guilt of Adam's sin, and all sin 
deserves eternal misery" — that "this original stain 
cleaves to every child of man, and that hereby, they 
are children of wrath, and liable to eternal dam- 
nation.* 

Mr. Wesley says, " We receive whatever blessings 
we enjoy since the fall, from the least drop of water 
that cools our tongue, to the immense riches of glory 
in eternity, of grace, not of debt."f "It was of mere 
grace, of free love, and undeserved mercy in God, 
that he hath vouchsafed to fallen man any way of 
reconciliation with himself."J 

The Rev. R. Watson says, "Man having forfeited 
good of every kind, and even life itself, by his trans- 
gression, all that remains to him more than evil in 
the natural world, as well as all spiritual blessings 
put within his reach by the gospel, are to be con- 
sidered as the fruits of the death of Christ, and 
ought to be gratefully acknowledged as such" — that 
" we enjoy nothing in our own right, and receive all 
at the hands of the divine mercy. "§ Again he 
says, " The justice of this is objected to, a point 
which will be immediately considered, but it is now 
sufficient to say, that if the making the descendants 
of Adam liable to eternal death because of his offence 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 246, 251. 
f Sermon on Justification by Faith. 

% Sermon on the Righteousness of Faith. 

\ Theological Institutes. Part II. Chap, xxiii. 



28 JUSTICE OP THE SENTENCE 

be unjust, the infliction of temporal punishment is 
unjust also, the duration of the punishment making 
no difference in the simple question of justice. If 
then, we only confine the hurt we receive from Adam 
to bodily death ; if this legal result of his transgres- 
sion only be imputed to us, and we are so constituted 
sinners as to become liable to it, we are in precisely 
the same difficulty as to the equity of the proceeding, 
as when the legal result is extended further. The 
only way out of this dilemma, is that adopted by Dr. 
Taylor, viz. to consider death, not as a punishment, 
but as a blessing, which involves the absurdity of 
making Deity threaten a benefit, as a penalty for an 
offence."* 

Dr. Fisk and the General Conference say, "The 
foundation for the plan of salvation of sinners, was 
the goodness and unmerited love of God" — that 
" there was nothing in all the character and circum- 
stances of the fallen family, except their sin, and 
deserved misery, that could claim the interposition of 
God's saving power." That "it was pure, unmerited 
love, that moved God to provide salvation for our 
world, f 

Thus far all is clear, strictly Calvinistic and scrip- 
tural. Adam, the federal head and representative of 
his race, involved himself and his posterity by his 
disobedience, in the threatened ruin. "By the of- 
fence of one, judgment came upon all men to con- 
demnation," Rom. v. 18. The act of the represen- 
tative binds, benefits, or injures the represented 
equally with himself. Although the latter are guilty 
in no other sense than in their equal liability with the 
former, to suffer the consequences of his sins: J and 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xviii. 

f Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. 

j The idea attached to the word "guilty," "by the Westminster 
Divines, when they say the posterity of Adam are "guilty of his 
first sin," is, that they are liable to the penalty of that sin. 



PASSED ON FALLEN MAN. 29 

arc meritorious in the sense only, of showing equally 
with him the blessings he procures. The American 
people at large share equally with their representa- 
tives in 1776, in the declaration of our independence. 
And they would have shared with them in the guilt — 
that is, in their liability to the consequences, if that 
declaration had proved a failure. This position is so 
clear, and the argument by which it is sustained so 
conclusive, that no one who reads it, could suppose an 
opposite view would be advanced by those who have 
advocated it. An opposite view, however, they do 
advance. 

Thus, Mr. Wesley and the General Conference, in 
answer to the reply, "God might justly pass by all 
men," ask, "Are you sure he might? Where is it 
written?" and say, they "cannot find it in the word 
of God," and therefore reject it as "a bold, precarious 
assertion, utterly unsupported by holy Scripture."* 

Again, when one is represented as saying, "he 
knows in his own conscience, God might justly have 
passed by him," they "deny it. "f 

Here we can hardly credit our own senses. They 
had said before, "We are all born under the guilt of 
Adam's sin, and all sin deserves eternal misery" — 
that "it Avas of mere grace, of free love, and unde- 
served mercy, that God hath vouchsafed to fallen 
man any way of reconciliation with himself" — that 
"there was nothing in all the circumstances of the 
fallen family, but their guilt .and deserved misery, 
that could claim the interposition of God's saving 
power," so that "they receive whatsoever blessings 
they enjoy since the fall, from the least drop of water, 
that cools our tongues, to the immense riches of glory 
in eternity, of grace not of debt," &c. Now how- 
ever, they reject all this as "bold precarious asser- 

* Doctrinal Tracts pp. 26, 27. f Ibid. 

3* 



30 JUSTICE OF THE SENTENCE. 

tions, unsupported by Scripture," and say distinctly 
Grod was in justice bound to provide salvation for the 
fallen. 

On the Arminian side of this question, Mr. Watson 
is equally sensitive. Thus, after referring to the 
evils that come upon the human family, in conse- 
quence of the sin of Adam, and after referring to the 
benefits received through Christ, he says, "In all this, 
it is impossible to impeach the equity of the divine 
proceeding, since no man suffers any loss or injury 
ultimately, by the sin of Adam, but by his own wilful 
obstinacy ; the abounding grace by Christ Jesus 
having placed before all men upon their believing, not 
merely compensation for the sin of Adam, but infi- 
nitely higher blessings, both in kind and degree, than 
were forfeited in him. As to adults then, the objec- 
tion taken from divine justice is unsupported." 

He then assigns his reasons for believing that those 
dying in infancy are saved, and says, " The injustice 
alleged as implicated in the doctrine of original sin, 
when considered in its whole and scriptural view, 
entirely vanishes."* 

Mr. Watson here teaches that the imputation of 
the sin of Adam to his posterity would be unjust, 
were it not for the salvation provided through Christ, 
and offered for their acceptance. He comes out much 
more boldly, however, when he treats of the doctrine of 
Election. " In whatever light the subject may be view- 
ed, (he says,) no fault in any right construction, can be 
charged upon the persons so punished, or as we may 
rather say, destroyed; since punishment supposes a 
judicial proceeding which this shuts out. For either 
the reprobate are destroyed fo» a pure reason of 
sovereignty, without any reference to their sinfulness, 
and thus criminality is left out of consideration; or 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xviii. 



PASSED ON FALLEN MAN. 31 

they are destroyed for the sin of Adam to which they 
were not consenting, or for personal faults resulting 
from a corruption of nature, which they brought into 
the world with them, and which God wills not to cor- 
rect, and they have no power to correct themselves. 
Every received notion of justice is thus violated."* 

This truly is very little like Mr. Watson when he 
says, " Man having forfeited good of every kind, and 
even life itself, we enjoy nothing of our own right, 
and receive all at the hands of the divine mercy" — 
that "if making the descendants of Adam liable to 
eternal death, because of his offence, be unjust, the 
infliction of temporal punishment is unjust also; the 
duration of the punishment making no difference in 
the simple question of justice" — that " if we only 
confine the hurt we receive from Adam to bodily death ; 
if this legal result of his transgression only be imputed 
to us, and we are so constituted sinners as to become 
liable for it, we are in precisely the same difficulty as 
to the equity of the proceeding, as when the legal 
result is extended further," &c. When Mr. Watson 
wrote thus, he was for the time being a Calvinist ; but 
having turned Arminian, he contends that it would 
be a violation of every received notion of justice for 
God to leave any of the human family without a Sa- 
viour, and without giving them such assistance as will 
enable them to correct the corruption of their natures. 
Of course then the provisions of the gospel are of 
debt, not of grace; of justice, not of mercy. Mercy 
is favour shown to the guilty, grace is favour shown 
to the undeserving. If then the provisions, that have 
been made for the fallen, are of debt and justice, 
Arminians have no business with the terms "grace" 
and "mercy" when speaking on that subject. 

Observe, Mr. Watson not only admits, but asserts 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxv. 



32 JUSTICE OF THE SENTENCE, &C. 

that God did impute the sin of Adam to his posterity, 
and that the legitimate consequences of that imputa- 
tion are bodily, spiritual, and eternal death ; and he 
proves that the sentence is just. And yet he after- 
wards contends, that it would be unjust if they were 
left to suffer these consequences. Most certainly, 
then, the imputation itself which exposes them to 
undeserved suffering, is unjust also. Nor is the diffi- 
culty at all removed by the fact, that God offers 
them an opportunity of salvation through Christ. 
An unjust act cannot be made just by another act 
intended to compensate for the injustice. A father 
might intentionally infect his children with small- 
pox, and then provide a remedy. But while they all 
suffer, half of them might be so affected by the 
disease as to neglect the remedy, and die. Now, it 
would be mockery, to say that " in all this it is impos- 
sible to impeach the equity of the proceeding, since 
none of them suffer ultimately by the parent's sin, but 
by their own wilful obstinacy, the abounding grace 
of the parents having placed before them all better 
health upon their receiving the remedy." 

But we need not pursue this subject further. 
Watson the Calvinist gives such an overwhelming 
reply to Watson the Arminian, and his Arminian 
brethren, that we will permit him to close this chap- 
ter. 

The Apostle Paul says, "By the offence of one, 
judgment came upon all men to condemnation." 
Bom. v. 18. Now, says Watson, " If it were right 
to attach that penalty to offence, it is most certainly 
righteous to execute it." (Theological Institutes, Part 
II. Chap, xix.) This is conclusive. He who is not 
convinced by it could not be convinced by argu- 
ment. 



33 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE ARMINIAN DOCTRINE OF DIVINE JUSTICE. 

Having disposed of what Arminians say of the jus- 
tice of God, in reference to the sentence passed upon 
man for his sin in Paradise, we will notice next, their 
very strange idea of what divine justice is. As the 
Rev. Richard Watson very concisely states the opin- 
ion of his brethren generally, on this subject, we will 
content ourselves with three quotations from him. 

"We may be bold" (says he) "to affirm, that jus- 
tice and equity in God, are what they are taken to 
be among reasonable men." Theol. Institutes, Part 
II. Chap. xxvi. 

" By the established notions of justice and equity 
in human affairs, we are taught by the Scriptures 
themselves, to judge of the divine proceedings, in all 
completely stated and comprehensible cases." Ibid. 

Again, speaking of "the scheme of predestination. 
as exhibited by Calvin," he says, " It is remarkable 
that the answers which he is compelled to give to 
objections, did not unfold to this great and acute 
man its utter contrariety to the testimony of God, 
and to all the established notions of equity among 
men." Ibid. Chap, xxviii. 

Here then, we are taught that justice and injustice 
with God are what they are with men, and that " we 
are so to judge of them, in all completely stated 
and comprehensible cases." Accordingly, with this 
class of writers, such expressions as the following, in 
reference to Deity, are very common, viz. "It is 
manifestly contrary to his justice."* "It is surely 

* Theological Institutes, Tart II. Chap. xxvi. 



34 THE ARMINIAN DOCTRINE 

not possible for the ingenuity of man to reconcile 
this to any notion of just government that has ever 
obtained."* "It flatly contradicts, indeed utterly 
overthrows the Scripture account of the justice of 
God."f "0 strange justice! What picture do you 
draw of the judge of all the earth. "J "You repre- 
sent God as worse than the devil, more false, more 
cruel, more unjust. "§ "If this doctrine be true, 
there is neither justice nor goodness in God."|| &c. 
If the reader desires to see a perfect hurricane of 
such expressions, he isrefered to " Foster's Objections 
to Calvinism." That writer, after misrepresenting 
every distinctive doctrine of the Calvinists, assaults 
his own misrepresentations with as much fury as Don 
Quixotte did the windmill. But to return. 

The Rev. R. Watson is so sensitive in reference to 
divine justice, that he begins to defend it, even be- 
fore he comes to man. Thus, speaking of " an objec- 
tion taken to the justice of the sentence pronounced 
on the serpent," he says, "If special pain and suffer- 
ings had been inflicted upon the serpent, there would 
have been a semblance of plausibility in the objec- 
tion ; but the serpent suffered as to liability to pain 
and death, no more than other animals, and was not 
therefore any more than another creature, a respon- 
sible offender."** 

But " special pain and suffering have been inflicted 
on the serpent." And " as to liability to pain and 
death," it does "suffer more than other animals." 
So true is this, that an exterminating war is carried 
on against the whole race of snakes. Mr. Watson 
indeed admits this when, a little further on in the 
same chapter, he speaks of "the enmity and abhor- 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxvi. 

f Doctrinal Tracts, page 32. J Ibid, page 33. § Ibid, page 171. 

|| Objections to Calvinism, page 206. 

** Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xviii. 



OF DIVINE JUSTICE. 35 

rcncc we have of the serpent." But if Mr. Watson 
is so sensitive about alleged injustice in reference to 
snakes, we could hardly expect him to be less so 
about injustice in reference to man. Accordingly, 
when speaking of the "innocent suffering equally 
with the guilty, in general calamities," he says, 
" The persons so suffering arc but comparatively 
innocent, and their personal trangressions against 
God deserve a higher punishment than any which 
this life witnesses;" but "this may be overruled for 
merciful purposes, and a future life presents its mani- 
fold compensations."* 

To this we reply, that while it is difficult to con- 
ceive how the "punishment" of being swallowed up 
in a "general calamity," such as an earthquake, or 
shipwreck, could "be overruled to merciful pur- 
poses" to the sufferers, Mr, Watson makes no allu- 
sion to infants. But these, though "innocent" as to 
"personal transgressions," suffer "in general calami- 
ties," in common with adults. The truth is, the case 
of infants presents a difficulty utterly irreconcilable 
with what he says of the justice of God. 

Mr. Wesley appears to have been about as sensi- 
tive on this subject as Mr. Watson. Thus, speaking 
of darkness in believers, he says, "For God to with- 
draw himself from the soul, because it is his sove- 
reign will, is inconsistent both with his justice and 
mercy."f 

From this it would appear -that some, at least, of 
the divine favours are of debt, not of grace ; of justice, 
not of mercy. It is true that in another place, he 
speaks of men, as "poor, guilty, sinful worms, who 
receive whatever blessings they enjoy, from the least 
drop of water that cools our tongues, to the immense 



* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxvi. 

f Sermon on "Heaviness through manifold temptations." 



36 THE ARMINIAN DOCTRINE 

riches of glory in eternity, of grace, not of debt,"* but 
he spoke then as a Calvinist. 

Again, Mr. Wesley, and the General Conference, 
after stating several points in which the sovereignty 
of God appears, say, "But in disposing of the eternal 
states of men, ... it is clear that not sovereignty only 
but justice, mercy and truth, hold the reins, "f 

But do not "justice, truth and mercy, hold the 
reins" in disposing of the temporal states of men? 
The Arminian notion that they do not, is blasphemy. 
Dr. Fisk and the General Conference say, " As a 
sovereign, God has a right to make his creatures dif- 
fer in these things, (spiritual advantages,) so long as 
he requires only as he gives ; but this differs as widely 
from the Calvinistic idea of sovereignty, as justice from 
injustice, as equity from iniquity. "{ 

Prom this it appears, that filthy motes of fallen 
earth do sit in judgment on their Maker. John Knox 
has truly said, "The foundation of this their damnable 
error is, that in God, they acknowledge no justice ex- 
cept that which their foolish brain is able to compre- 
hend.'^ 

Against the position that "justice and equity in 
God, are what they are taken to be among reasonable 
men," we enter our protest. Abraham did not think 
so, or he would not, at God's command, have raised 
the knife to slay his son. Perhaps, if he had read 
Watson's Institutes, he might have thought differently. 
The man who, under ordinary circumstances, wilfully 
kills another, is a murderer. And so would he be 
who, under ordinary circumstances, would, (if it were 
possible,) bring on a plague, sink a ship, or engulph a 
city. God, however, in these and various ways, wil- 
fully kills about thirty millions every year. Accord- 

* Sermon on Justification by Faith. 
-j- Doctrinal Tracts, page 57. 
j Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. 
| McCrie's Life of Knox, page 138. 



OP DIVINE JUSTICE. 37 

ing to Arminians, therefore lie is the most merciless, 
wholesale, and criminal of all murderers. For one 
man to enter the dwelling of another and wilfully kill 
a child, would be awful wickedness. But though this 
is often done by God, there is a heartfelt acquies- 
cense. "It is the Lord, let him do what seem eth to 
him good." "Though he slay me, yet will I trust 
him." "Clouds and darkness are round about him, 
righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his 
throne." It is with real pleasure therefore that we 
find these wild theologians turn Calvinists and teach 
a better theology. Mr. Wesley says, " It is true wis- 
dom, it is a mark of a sound mind, to acquiesce in 
whatever God hath chosen; to say in all things, ' It is 
the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good.'* It 
does not become poor sinful worms ... to ask God 
the reason of his conduct. It is not meet for us to 
call him in question who giveth to none account of his 
ways."* 

" How little do we understand of his providential 
dealings, either with regard to nations, or families, or 
individuals ! There are heights, and depths in all 
these, which our understanding can in no wise fathom. 
We can comprehend but a small part of his ways now, 
the rest we shall know hereafter. "J 

Dr. Fisk and the General Conference say, " There 
is indeed something of mystery hanging over the 
providence of God, in bestowing peculiar advantages 
on some, and withholding them from others. "§ 

Mr. Watson, speaking of the sovereignty of God, 
in the spread of the gospel, says, " We call this 
sovereignty * * because the reasons, whether they 
are reasons of judgment, or wisdom, or mercy, are 

* Sermon on the Righteousness of Faith. 
rmon on Justification by Faith. 

J Sermon on the Imperfection of Human Knowledge. 
§ Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. 

4 



38 ARMINIAN DOCTRINE OF DIVINE JUSTICE. 

hidden from us, either that we have no immediate 
interest in them, or that thej are too deep and ample 
for our comprehension, or because it is an im- 
portant lesson for men to be taught to bow with 
reverent submission to his regal prerogatives." Again 
he says, " We cannot be judges of a nature in- 
finite in perfection, nor of proceedings which in 
the unlimited range of the government of God may 
have connections and bearings beyond our compre- 
hension."* 

Such sentiments are not only Calvinistic, but scrip- 
tural. According to them, " God's judgments are a 
great deep," and "his way is in the sea," &c.f 
" He maketh darkness his secret place, and his 
pavilion round about him are dark waters, and thick 
clouds of the skies. "J " He giveth not account of any 
of his matters,"§ and "it is his glory to conceal a 
thing."|| "He is a rock, his way is perfect, for all 
his ways are judgment, a God of truth, and without 
iniquity, just and right is he."** " As the heavens are 
higher than the earth, so are his ways higher than 
our ways, and his thoughts than our thoughts, "§§ &c. 

Having seen how anti-scriptural tbese theologians 
are when they speak as Armenians, and how scrip- 
tural they are when they speak as Calvinists, we will 
permit Job to conclude the chapter. 

"Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked, and to 
princes, Ye are ungodly ? How much less to him 
that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor re- 
gardeth the rich more than the poor, for they are all 
the work of his hands I" Job xxxiv. 18, 19. 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. iv. and xxvi. 
f Psalm xxxvi. 6, Ixxvii. 19. J Psalm xviii. 1.1. 

§ Job xxxiii. 13. || Proy. xxv. 2. 

** Deut. xxxii. 4. U Isaiah lv. 9. 



30 



CHAPTER V. 

Till. SPIRITUAL DEATH WHICH MADE A PART OF THE PENALTY OF 
adam's TRANSGRESSION. 

Are men born, and do they continue in that state 
of spiritual death which was induced by the fall, until 
regenerated by the Holy Spirit? On this point the 
Calvinist affirms, while the Arminian denies. For 
the sake of a more striking contrast, we will consider 
the latter first. 

Mr. Wesley says, "God did not despise the work 
of his own hands, but being reconciled to man through 
the Son of his love, he in some measure, reinscribed 
his law on the heart of his dark sinful creature."* 

The Fourth Methodist Conference in England, 
speaking of " the obedience and death of Christ," say, 
"The souls of all men receive (thereby) a capacity of 
spiritual life, and an actual spark thereof. "f 

Mr. Wesley and the General Conference "grant, it 
is impossible men should leap at once to the middle, 
much less to the highest round (of the mysterious 
ladder of truth);" but, they contend, that "if the 
foot of it is upon earth, in the very nature of things, 
the lnwest step is within their reach. And by laying 
hold of it, they may go on from faith to faith, till 
they stand firm even, in the Christian faith, if distin- 
guishing grace has elected them to have the Christian 
gospel."! 

Again they say, "We believe that in the moment 
Adam fell, he had no freedom of will left, but God, 
when of his free grace, he gave the promise of a Sa- 

* Sermon on the Original Nature and Use of the Law. 
f Whitehead's Life of Wesley, page 13-5. 
% Doctrinal Tracts, page 240. 



40 FALLEN MEN SPIRITUALLY DEAD 

viour to him and his posterity, graciously restored to 
mankind a liberty and power to accept of proffered 
salvation.* 

Dr. Fisk says, "Even the power of the will to 
choose life, and the conditions of life, is a gracious 
power. A fallen man, without grace, could no more 
choose to submit to God than a fallen angel. "f "The 
atonement, if it is not a remedy for man's extreme 
depravity, it is no provision for him. If it does not 
give a gracious power to all sinners to embrace salva- 
tion, it has accomplished nothing for the depraved 
reprobate. "J 

From these quotations it appears, that one doctrine 
of the Methodist Church is, that in the moment Adam 
fell, he lost all spiritual light and understanding, and 
even his moral feeling — "had no freedom of will 
left" — was "utterly unsalvable." "But that when 
God gave the promise of a Saviour, he restored to 
mankind a liberty and power to accept of salvation." 
This then is one doctrine on this subject; take 
another. 

The General Conference, speaking of the interposi- 
tion of Christ says, " He is the true light that en- 
lighteneth every man that cometh into the world, and 
this light would work out the salvation of all, if not 
resisted. Nor is it less universal than inbred sin, 
being the purchase of his death, who tasted death for 
every man. 'For as in Adam all die, even so, in 
Christ shall all be made alive.' "§ 

Here then we have a perfect system of passive do- 
nothing. Before, it was "a liberty and power" only, 

* Doctrinal Tracts, page 154. 

■j- Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. 

X Ibid. 

| Doctrinal Tracts, page 95. Here we have 1 Cor. xv. 22, which 
refers to the resurrection of the body, pressed out of its meaning to 
sustain an Arminian error. 



UNTIL REGENERATED. 41 

"to choose life and the conditions of life," and "to 
accept of salvation." But now, it is "a measure of 
light and grace, which if not resisted would work out 
the salvation of all." This then is a second doctrine 
on this subject. We will notice a third. 

We have already seen the condition into which the 
human family were plunged by the sin of our first 
parents, and the reinstatement, consequent upon the 
interposition of Christ, for which Arminians contend. 
We have seen, also, that Mr. Watson takes a different 
view, and proves "that the full penalty of Adam's 
offence past upon his posterity, and that although full 
provision to meet the case is made in the gospel, that 
does not affect the state in which we are born." 

Again he says, " The true Arminian, as fully as the 
Calvinist, admits the doctrine of the total depravity 
of human nature in consequence of the fall of our first 
parents, . . . (and) maintains the total incapacity of 
unassisted human nature to produce (certain good 
dispositions, and occasional religious inclinations, in 
those who never give any evidence of their actual 
conversion to God) and attributes them to that divine 
and gracious influence which, if not resisted, would 
lead to conversion."* 

Again he says, " There is that operation of the 
Spirit by which men are put into a capacity to repent 
when they hear the word. If that were not the case, 
how then should God judge the world for not believ- 
ing in Christ? Wherever the .gospel is preached, it is 
not only preached with the influences of the Spirit, 
but the same Spirit is given to prepare men to receive 
the message. And where the message is not received, 
there is a resistance of the Holy Ghost. This con- 
stitutes the guilt of impenitent mem ' Ye will not 
come to me that ye might have life.' They had 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chapter xviii. 
4* 



42 FALLEN MEN SPIRITUALLY DEAD 

received those gracious influences which gave them 
the moral power, but they would not come to him. 
They resisted the Spirit in their hearts — the quick- 
ening, convincing Spirit, as well as that same Spirit 
in the word."* 

Again he says, " By the gift of Christ, and as an 
immediate consequence of religious doctrine, we re- 
ceive the gift of conscience Where there is 

no truth there is no conscience; men are asleep; in 
their sins they are dead, and society all around them 
is corrupt. Such was the state of the heathen 
world."f 

The difference between Mr. Watson and his brethren 
is, that the same influence which they say is extended, 
through the interposition of Christ to the whole 
human family, he says, is limited to those who hear 
the gospel. This then is a third, or as we may say, 
a triangle of doctrines in the same Church, on the 
same subject. It will therefore be a relief to the 
reader to turn from this Arminian jargon, to the Cal- 
vinistic and scriptural view of these divines, though 
it makes the triangle a four-sided figure. 

Mr. Wesley says, "I am fully persuaded that every 
man of the offspring of Adam is very far gone from 
original righteousness, and is, of his own nature, in- 
clined to evil." Works, Vol. v. page 255. 

The General Conference say, " Original sin standeth 
not in the following of Adam (as the Pelagians do 
vainly talk) but it is the corruption of every man that 
naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, 
whereby man is very far gone from original righteous- 
ness, and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that 
continually." Doctrine and Discipline, Article VII. 

* Sermon on the Ascension. 

■f Sermon on "The unspeakable gift of Christ." Here Mr. Wat- 
son says the heathen have no conscience, while Paul says they 
have. See Rom. ii. 14, 15. 



UNTIL REGENERATED. 43 

In these quotations we are taught that " the nature 
of every man is corrupted, inclined to evil, and very far 
gone from original righteousness." How much it is 
corrupted, and how far man is gone from original 
righteousness, we will now see. 

Mr. Wesley, speaking of the effects of Adam's sin, 
says, " Every one born into the world, now bears the 
image of the devil, in pride and self-will, the image of 
the beast in sensual appetites and desires. This then 
is the foundation of the new birth, the entire corrup- 
tion of our nature."* 

Again, addressing the sinner, he says, "Know thy- 
self to be a sinner, and what manner of sinner thou 
art. Know that corruption of thy inmost nature, 
whereby thou art very far gone from original right- 
eousness, whereby the flesh lusteth always contrary to 
the Spirit, through that carnal mind which is enmity 
against God, which is not subject to the law of God, 
neither indeed can be. Know that thou art corrupted 
in every power, in every faculty of thy soul; that thou 
art totally corrupted in every one of these, all the 
foundations being out of course. The eyes of thine un- 
derstanding are darkened so that they cannot discern 
God or the things of God. The clouds of ignorance 
and error rest upon thee, and cover thee with the 
shadow of death. Thou knowest nothing yet as 
thou oughtest to know, neither God, nor the world, 
nor thyself. Thy will is no longer the will of God, 
but is utterly perverse and distorted, averse from all 
good, from all which God loves, and prone to all evil, 
to every abomination which God hateth. Thy affec- 
tions are all alienated from God and scattered abroad 
over all the earth. All thy passions, both thy desires 
and diversions, thy joys and sorrows, thy hopes and 
fears are out of favour, are either undue in their de- 
gree, or placed on undue objects. So that there is 

* Sermon ou the New Birth. 



44 FALLEN MEN SPIRITUALLY DEAD. 

no soundness in thy soul, but from the crown of thy 
head to the sole of thy foot, there are only wounds 
and bruises, and putrefying sores. Such is the inbred 
corruption of thy heart, of thy very inmost nature."* 

The Rev. R. Watson, speaking of the death of the 
"soul in a moral sense," says, "It consists in a sepa- 
ration from communion with God, and is manifested 
by the dominion of earthly, corrupt dispositions and 
habits, and an entire indifference or aversion to spiri- 
tual and heavenly things. This too (he continues) is 
represented as the state of all who are not quickened 
by the instrumentality of the gospel, employed for 
the purpose by the power and agency of the divine 
Author. 'And you hath he quickened who were dead 
in trespasses and in sins.' The state of the regene- 
rate mind is, in accordance with this, represented as 
a resurrection, and passing from death unto life." j" 

Evidently then, it is a doctrine of the Methodist 
Church, that Adam by his disobedience involved his 
posterity, equally with himself, in spiritual death; 
that in this state they are born, and in this state they 
continue, until regenerated by the Holy Spirit. But 
this is Calvinism, and makes the triangle a four-sided 
figure. 

Now, as Mr. Wesley, in his Review of Dr. Taylor 
on Original Sin, has shown this last side to be scrip- 
tural; and as Mr. Watson has "established it that the 
full penalty of Adam's offence passed upon his pos- 
terity," so that " they are born under the whole male- 
diction," although any two sides of a triangle are 
greater than a third side, in mathematics, it follows 
that one side of a four-sided figure may be greater 
than three sides, in theology. 

* Sermon on the Way to the Kingdom. The same doctrine is 
taught by Mr. Wesley in his sermon on " The Way of Salvation," 
"The Righteousness of Faith," "The Privilege of those born of God," 
&c. f Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xviii. 



45 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE FREE M.l.M'Y 01 MAN, SELF-DETERMINING POWER OF THE 
WILL, ETC. 

That man is a free and accountable agent, is be- 
lieved by both Calvinists and Arminians. They, at 
the same time however, alternately charge each other 
with error and inconsistency on this subject. How 
far either party may be obnoxious to the charge, the 
reader must judge. At all events, their views are 
widely different. Arminians contend, 

1. That our first parents, by their disobedience, 
plunged themselves and their posterity into a state of 
spiritual impotency and irresponsibility, and that free 
agency and accountability were graciously restored. 
Mr. Wesley says, "God being reconciled to man 
through the Son of his love, in some measure rein- 
scribed his law on the heart of his dark sinful 
creature."* 

The General Conference says, "We believe that in 
the moment Adam fell he had no freedom left, but 
that God, when of his own free grace, he gave the 
promise of a Saviour to him and his posterity, gra- 
ciously restored to mankind a liberty and power to 
accept of proffered salvation. "f "Natural free-will 
in the present state of man (we) do not understand. 
(We) only assert that there is a measure of free will, 
supernaturally restored to every man, together with 
that supernatural light which enlighteneth every man 
that cometh into the world. "J 

Dr. Fisk says, " Even the power of the will to 

* Sermon on the Original nature, properties, and uses of the 
Law. 
f Doctrinal Tracts, page 154. J Ibid, page 47. 



46 ARMINIAN FREE AGENCY 

choose life, and the conditions of life, is a gracious 
power."* "The Arminian ground maintains consti- 
tutional depravity, and salvation by grace, from the 
foundation to the top-stone, including of course, a 
gracious ability to choose life and gain heaven. "f 
"Arminians believe that grace may and does restore 
the power to choose God before regeneration. "J 

Dr. Adam Clarke, speaking of man after the fall, 
says, " He appears to have lost all spiritual light and 
understanding, and even his moral feeling." And 
"as they (Adam and Eve) were, so would have been 
all their posterity, had not some gracious principle 
been restored to enlighten their minds, to give them 
some knowledge of good and evil, of right and wrong, 
virtue and vice."§ 

To this we reply: If God has "in some measure" 
only reinscribed his law on the heart of man, if he 
has " supernaturally restored to every man a mea- 
sure" only "of free will and light," it follows, that 
man is in "a measure" only, a free agent. This 
then is one Arminian doctrine on this subject. Take 
another: 

Dr. Fisk tells us that "A moral agent to be free, 
must be possessed of a self-determining principle" — 
that if you " make the will anything short of this, 
you put the whole moral man under foreign and irre- 
sistible influences. "|| Of course, then, if the non-pos- 
session of such a principle will "put the whole moral 
man under such influences," the possession of it will 
put him from under them; or, in other words, will 
make "a moral agent to be free." 

That such is his meaning appears from what is said 
again. "Herein we differ widely from the Calvinists. 



* Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. f Ibid. No. X. 

J Ibid. I Clarke's Theology, page 104. 

II Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. 



AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 47 

They tell us, man has a natural power to choose life. 
If so, he has power to get to heaven without grace."* 

A second Arminian doctrine then is, that, through 
the interposition of Christ, man "is possessed of a 
self-determining principle." And if so, he has been 
restored entirely to free agency. And if so, " he has 
power to choose life." And if so, " he has power to 
get to heaven." Of course then he needs no more 
grace ; and if he needs no more grace, he needs no 
more prayer. 

In connection with the foregoing, it is contended 
that a self- determining power of the will is essential 
to accountability. 

" Man's obedience or disobedience, if it has any 
just relations to rewards and punishments, must, in 
its responsible character, rest upon the self-determin- 
ing principle of the will."f "He has within himself 
a self-determining principle, in the exercise of which 
he becomes responsible. "J " The mind may be free 
to act in one direction, yet it may have so utterly lost 
its moral equilibrium as to be utterly incapable, of its 
own nature, to act in an opposite direction, and there- 
fore, not in the full and responsible sense, a free 
agent. ***** The understanding may be darkened, 
the conscience may be seared or polluted, the will, 
that is the power of willing, may, to all good purposes, 
be enthralled, and this is what we affirm to be the 
true state and condition of unaided human nature. "§ 
"The simple question is, has fallen man on the whole 
the power to make a right choice, or has he not ? We 
say, without grace he has not, and therefore fallen 
man is not, in the responsible sense of that term, a 
free agent without grace. "|| "If it be asked whether 
disinclination can ever be so strong as to destroy the 

* Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. f Ibid. 

X Ibid. § Ibid. No. X. || Ibid. 



48 ARMINIAN FREE AGENCY 

freedom of the will to act in one particular direction, 
I answer, most unhesitatingly, Yes; and if that dis- 
inclination is either created or derived, and not the 
result of an antecedent choice, the possessor is not 
morally obligated to act in opposition to it, unless he 
receives foreign aid to help his infirmities, and to 
strengthen him for a contrary choice."* 

The Rev. R. Watson says: " It is not denied that 
the will in its purely natural state, and independent 
of all grace, can incline only to evil." And he con- 
tends, that under this "invincible depravity," and 
"born with this moral disease," he is not " punish- 
able."f 

To this we reply : 1st. That if this be true, it fol- 
lows, that the fall of our first parents, inasmuch 
as it brought man into a state in which to sin, and 
consequently to suffer for sin, was impossible, instead 
of being an evil, would, if let alone, have been an in- 
conceivable blessing. It follows, 2d. That the death 
of Christ, inasmuch as it restored man to the only 
condition in which to sin, and consequently to suffer, 
was possible, instead of being a blessing at all, is an 
inconceivable curse. The sin of Adam, therefore, 
raised our nature high, even to a state of sinless per- 
fection, while the death of Christ reduced that nature 
low. The former introduced holiness, immortality, 
and eternal life, while the latter introduced sin, and 
death, temporal, spiritual, and eternal. And so says 
Mr. Wesley: "Mankind in general have gained by 
the fall of Adam, a capacity of attaining more holi- 
ness and happiness on earth than it would have been 
possible for them to attain if Adam had not fallen." 
" How little reason (therefore) have we to repine at 
the fall of our first parents, since herefrom we may 



* Calvinistic Controversy, No. X. 

f Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxviii. 



AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 49 

derive such unspeakable advantages, both in time and 
in eternity."* 

It is true our Saviour said, " God so loved the world 
that he gave his only begotten Son,"t & c -> hut accord- 
ing to Arminians this should read, God so hated the 
world, &c. It is true again, the apostle John says, 
that "grace and truth came by Jesus Christ ;"J but, 
according to Arminians, hatred, wrath, and ruin came. 
It is true further, that at the birth of Christ a mul- 
titude of the heavenly host praised God, saying, 
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, 
good will to man."§ But, according to Arminians, 
this should have been, Wo ! wo ! wo ! to the inhabit- 
ants of the world, for the great day of his wrath is 
come. 

"Earth felt the wound (when Christ was born,) and Nature, 
From her seat, sighing through all her works, 
Gave signs of wo, that all was lost." 

Such are the necessary consequences, if Arminian- 
ism be true. And yet Arminians say : " The gospel 
plan, with all its provisions and conditions, is of grace." 
That " there is not a step in that whole system but 
rests on grace, is presented by grace, and executed 
through grace."| Then truly, in the language of Dr. 
Fisk, " The gospel privileges with which men are 
mocked, if they can be termed grace at all, must be 
called damning grace."1f Or, in the language of 
Mr. Wesley, " God never loved the world, according 
to this doctrine, but rather hated it greatly, in send- 
ing his Son to be crucified for it.** 

It is true, that according to Dr. Clarke, " God has 

* Sermon on God's Love to fallen Man. f John iii. 1G. 

% John i. 17. | Lukeii. 14, 15. 

|| Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. f Ibid. 
** Doctrinal Tracts, page 101. 

5 



50 ARMINIAN FREE AGENCY 

inspired man with a desire to be saved, and this alone 
places him in a salvable state."* For, "had man 
been left just as he was when he fell from God, he 
would have been utterly unsalvable, as he appears to 
have lost all his spiritual light, and understanding, 
and even his moral feeling. "f 

It is true, also, that the " Theology of that divine 
is made up of extracts from his writings, approved of 
and published by the General Conference; but it is 
true, also, that all the authors we have thus far quoted, 
except one,J are published by the sanction of the 
same body. As to flat contradictions, therefore, why, 
that we may expect. 

There is still another sentiment in the quotations 
on which we have been commenting, wonderfully at 
variance with common sense and revelation. It is 
that " disinclination, which is not the result of an an- 
tecedent choice, may be so strong as to destroy free 
agency and responsibility, unless the possessor re- 
ceives foreign aid to help his infirmities and strengthen 
him for a contrary choice." 

If this be true, then it follows that the man who is 
possessed of feelings so honest that he cannot will to 
defraud: and the parent who is so affectionate that he 
cannot will to hate or murder his children ; and the 
woman who is so virtuous that she cannot will an act 
of lewdness; and the man, of principles so honourable, 
that he cannot will an act of meanness; and God, 
whose disinclination to falsehood is such that he 
" cannot Zz'e,"§ are not free agents, unless they receive 
foreign aid, to help their infirmities and strengthen 
them for a contrary choice : while beings of such easy 
principles, that in all such cases they can as readily 



* Clarke's Theology, page 96. f Ibid, page 104. 

% Bangs' Reply to Haskel. \ Titus i. 2. 



AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 51 

go one way as the other, are free agents and the only 
free agents. 

Let not the reader suppose we push the consequence 
beyond the doctrine. "We grant," says the Rev. N. 
L. Bangs, "that so far as man is influenced by motive 
or otherwise, his liberty is so far impaired."* Of 
course then, if he has the least taint of honour, holi- 
ness, or depravity, he is so far deprived of free 
agency. 

Dr. Fisk says, "Man, in this life, is in a state of 
trial; good and evil are presented before him as ob- 
jects of choice, and upon this choice are suspended 
eternal consequences of happiness or misery. Of a 
being thus circumstanced, it is not enough to say, 
he is free to choose as he does, unless you can say 
also, he is equally free to make an opposite choice. "f 

Then it follows that General Hull was not a free 
agent, nor responsible for surrendering to the British, 
when he could have easily whipped them, and that the 
court-martial that sentenced him to be shot for cow- 
ardice, was alone guilty in the transaction. Then it 
follows that a rich miser, who loves money more than 
he loves honesty, is not bound to pay a just debt, and 
that a court of justice has no right to enforce pay- 
ment; that a parent who, although possessed of ample 
health and strength to provide for his household, but 
whose aversion to labour is greater than his love for 
his children, "is not in the responsible sense of the 
term, a free agent. "J To the Calvinist it appears, 
on the contrary, that the essence of liberty consists in 
our being permitted to do as we please — that as the 
act of doing is preceded by a determination to do, 
which determination is itself a will or choice, an hon- 
ourable man will not consider his free agency de- 

* Reviewer Reviewed, page 45. 

•j- Calvmistic Controversy, No. VIII. % 1 Tim. v. 8. 



52 ARMINIAN FREE AGENCY 

stroyed if he cannot will to do what is mean — that 
God acts freely, notwithstanding his disinclination to 
falsehood is such that he "cannot lie." And that if 
the mere want of a will, or disposition to work, will 
not save a lazy servant from the lash; and the mere 
want of a will, or disposition to pay a just debt, will 
not save a rich miser from the law, neither will the 
mere want of a will or disposition excuse a sinner, who 
with capacity to love sin, and to commit it, neglects 
to employ that capacity in loving and serving God. 

But farther, the Calvinist thinks that " a man can 
no more cease to be a free moral agent than he can 
annihilate his soul. God has made him free — has de- 
creed that he shall be free, and he is obliged to be 
free, and to do as he pleases, and he cannot do other- 
wise than as he pleases. If any one thinks he can, let 
him try to do something which he does not will to do. 
If he says his inability to do this destroys his free 
agency, he adopts the sentiment that he cannot be a 
free agent, unless he can do what he does not will to 
do." That, to require of another what, although he 
has a disposition to do he has not capacity to do, 
would be unjust, is self-evident. But, that to require 
of another what he has capacity to do, and what he 
ought to do, but what he may have no disposition to 
do, is not unjust, is self-evident also. 

Now, that man has capacity to repent, when he is 
conscious of having sinned, we know; that he has 
capacity to believe on proper testimony, we know; 
and that he has capacity to love, we know. Hence, 
when the Scriptures say, in reference to sin against 
God, "Except ye repent ye shall perish;"* and when 
they say, in reference to faith in Christ, "He that be- 
lieveth not shall be damned ;"f and when they say 
in reference to loving the Saviour, "If any man love 

* Luke xiii. 3. f Mark xvi. 16. 



AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 53 

not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, ma- 
ranatha,"* the divine Being is not chargeable with 
" reaping -where he has not sown, nor of gathering 
where he has not strewed. "f 

The essence of religion is love. Hence, " Love is 
the fulfilling of the law. "J When, therefore, man is 
required to "love the Lord with all his heart," &c, it 
is required " of him according to that he hath, and not 
according to that he hath not." 2 Cor. viii. 12. 

But we proceed to show, fourthly, that according to 
Arminians there is no such liberty or self-determining 
power of the will as has been contended for. 

Mr. "Wesley says, " If a natural man be one of 
those (who are termed men of learning) he can talk at 
large of his rational faculties; of the freedom of his 
will, and the absolute necessity of such freedom in 
order to constitute man a moral agent. He reads, 
and argues, and proves to demonstration, that every 
man may do as he will ; may dispose his own heart to 
evil or good, as it seems best in his own eyes. Thus 
the God of this world spreads a double veil of blind- 
ness over his heart, lest by any means the light of 
the glorious gospel of Christ should shine upon it." 
" But though he strive with all his might, he cannot 
conquer. Sin is mightier than he. He would fain 
escape, but is so fast in prison that he cannot get 
forth. He resolves against sin, but yet sins on. He 
sees the snare, and abhors, yet runs into it. So much 
does his boasted reason avail ! only to enhance his 
guilt and increase his misery; Such is the freedom 
of the will ! free only to evil. Free to ' drink in ini- 
quity like water;' to wander further and further from 
the living God, and do more ' despite to the Spirit of 
grace.' "§ 

* 1 Cor. xvi. 22. f Matt. xsv. 24. J Rom. xiii. 10. 

\ Sermon on The spirit of Bondage and Adoption. 

5* 



54 ARMINIAN FREE AGENCY 

The Rev. R. Watson says, " An entire indifference 
or aversion to heavenly things is represented to be 
the state of all who are not quickened by the instru- 
mentality of the gospel, employed for this purpose by 
the power and agency of its divine Author."* Again 
he says, "We are here in a dark and wretched 
dungeon — have lost spiritual liberty and light — are 
fast tied, bound with the chain of our sins and are 
under sentence of death. "f 

If then "we have lost spiritual liberty and light," 
where is the liberty of the will? Where is that moral 
equilibrium which we have been told is essential to 
liberty? If again, there is in all who are not quick- 
ened by the instrumentality of the gospel, an entire 
aversion to heavenly things," where is that "self- 
determining principle of which a moral agent, to be 
free, must be possessed?" And if again, " the will is 
free only to evil," &c, where is that "light and grace, 
as universal as inbred sin, which if not resisted, would 
work out the salvation of all?" 

But we have more yet. Dr. Fisk tells us, that 
" the affections and propensities, (sometimes called the 
heart) are the principal seat of depravity, and (that) 
these are often arrayed in direct hostility to the con- 
victions of the judgment and the feelings of moral ob- 
ligation — that the will, or that mental power by which 
we put forth volitions and make decisions, while it is 
more or less directly or indirectly influenced by the 
judgment, the conscience and the affections is, in fact, 
designed to give direction and unity to the whole 
mental action. . . . But (that) by sin this harmony 
has been disturbed, and the unholy affections have 
gained an undue ascendency ; so that in the unregene- 
rate, in all questions of preference between God and 

* Theological Institutes, Part ii. Chapter xviii. 
•j- Sermon on the Infliction of Evil upon Mankind. 



AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 55 

the world, in spite of the judgment, of conscience and 
of the will, the world is loved and God hated; that 
in those cases where we cannot control our affections 
by a direct volition, we may nevertheless, under the 
promptings of conscience, and in the light of the judg- 
ment, resolve against sin — but that these resolutions, 
however firmly and repeatedly made, will be carried 
away and overruled by the strength of the carnal 
mind."* 

Here then, we are told, that the affections and pro- 
pensities (of man) are the principal seat of depravity; 
that the will is designed to give, and always does give 
direction and unity to the whole mental action when 
there is a proper harmony in the mental powers; but 
that by sin this harmony has been disturbed, so that 
in the unregenerate the unholy affections control the 
will, &c. But if this be so, what becomes of the 
liberty of the will? 

Again, in reply to the objection that "it is the 
province of the will to control the affections, and not 
of the affections to control the will, and that the will 
always possesses power to do this, even in an unre- 
generate state," they say, "If so, then has he power 
at any time by an act of the will to love God," 
which they deny.f But if this be so, where is " the 
power of choice, and of a contrary choice," without 
which we are told there can be no free agency ? 

That we do not misapprehend their meaning is evi- 
dent from what is said in a preceding number, viz. 
That "the will is oftener enthralled by the affections, 
than the affections by the will;" (that) even in com- 
mon and worldly matters, let a man try by an effort of 
the will to beget love where it does not exist, or to 
transfer the affections from one object to another, and 
bow will he succeed? Will love or hatred go or come 
at your bidding ? You might as well attempt by an 

* Calviuibtic Controversy, No. XIV. f Ibid. 



56 ARMINIAN FREE AGENCY 

act of the will to make sweet bitter, or bitter sweet, to 
the physical taste. How much less can a man by an 
act of the will make all things new, and transfer the 
heart from the grossness of creature love to the purity 
of supreme love to God ?* 

Here we are told that the will is so enthralled by 
the affections that it cannot will to love God. Where 
then is the " self-determining power of the will," of 
which "a moral agent to be free must be possessed?" 
Is not Mr. Wesley correct therefore, when he says, 
"the will is free to do evil only."f 

Again, we have been told that "the affections and 
propensities are the principal seat of depravity," and 
that they enthrall the will. But is not the will en- 
thralled by itself also ? In answer to this we will 
hear Mr. Wesley speaking of " the condition wherein 
all men are since the fall:" he says, a Our nature is 
altogether corrupt in every power and faculty, and 
our will depraved equally with the rest, is wholly 
bent to indulge our natural corruptions." Sermon 
on Self-denial. 

2. We will hear Arminius. Speaking of " the free 
will of man," he says, " In his lapsed and sinful state 
man is not capable, of and by himself, either to think, 
to will, or to do, that which is really good. But it is 
necessary for him to be regenerated and renewed in 
his intellect, affections, or will, and in all his powers, 
by God in Christ, through the Holy Spirit, that he 
may be qualified rightly to understand, esteem, con- 
sider, will and perform, whatever is truly good." Life 
of Arminius by Bangs, page 222. 

Now then, as " our nature is altogether corrupt in 
every power and faculty, and our will depraved 
equally with the rest," so that " man, in his lapsed 
and sinful state, is not capable either to think, to 

* Calvinistic Controversy, No. XIII. 

f Sermon on the Spirit of Bondage and Adoption. 



AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 57 

will, or to do that which is really good, until regene- 
rated and renewed in his intellect, affections, will and 
all his powers, by God in Christ, through the Holy 
Spirit," if this is not a giving up of all for which 
Arminians contend as having been restored to fallen 
man, then language has no meaning. 

The reader has now seen the fourth side of the four- 
sided figure we undertook to demonstrate. We once 
heard Dr. Ives, the then Bishop of North Carolina, 
preach a laboured and eloquent sermon on " The One- 
ness of Truth." His object was to show that truth is 
necessarily one, or in other words, that the opposite 
qf truth cannot be true. The inference, though not 
expressed, was natural, viz. Admitting Episcopacy to 
be true, non Episcopacy is not true. We were sur- 
prised to witness so great an effort to prove what we 
supposed no one doubted. Those however were our 
younger days. We had not then read many Arminian 
authors, and of course had not learned, as we have 
seen it stated since, that truth is not one only, but is 
sometimes two, sometimes three, and sometimes four, 
according to circumstances. 

Having shown by Arminians themselves that there 
is no such self-determining power of the will as they 
contend for, it follows, according to the same authority, 
but no other — 

1. That man is not a free, and consequently, not 
an accountable agent. 2. That if there is any such 
thing as sin in the world, God is the author of it. 
The Rev. R. Watson remarks correctly, though in so 
doing he bears very heavily on himself and his Armi- 
nian brethren, that " the dogma which makes God 
the efficient cause or author of sin, is direct blas- 
phemy, and is one of those culpable extravagancies 
into which men are sometimes betrayed by a blind 
attachment to some favourite theory." Theol. Insti- 
tutes, Part ii. Chap. vi. 



58 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE OMNISCIENCE OF GOD. 



Calvinists contend that all the consequences in- 
volved by the divine decrees, are necessarily involved 
by the divine omniscience, and hence that every ob- 
jection urged against the former may be urged against 
the latter also. Although Arminians deny this, we 
undertake to prove, not only that it is so, but that it 
is so by the admission of those who deny it. That 
we may the more strikingly present the issue involved, 
we will introduce it with the following dialogue be- 
tween an Arminian and a Calvinist. 

Arminian. The doctrine of predestination has long 
appeared to me so utterly at war with reason and 
revelation that I cannot beelive it. 

Calvinist. That, sir, I suppose is owing to the fact 
that you have not properly examined it. You have no 
doubt heard much said against it — perhaps you have 
seen the numerous misquotations against it that abound 
in the ^orks of Wesley, the volume of Methodist Doc- 
trinal Tracts, and Fisk's Calvinistic Controversy; 
some of which are forged in part, many of them 
forged entirely. You may also have seen the nume- 
rous misrepresentations of that doctrine that are to be 
found, not only in the books just named, but also in 
Watson's Theological Institutes, Foster's Objections 
to Calvinism, &c. &c. &c. Now, you supposing these 
quotations, &c. to have been truthfully made, natu- 
rally suppose that Calvinism merits all the odium 
raised against it. As I desire to correct your impres- 
sions, permit me to ask you a few questions. Are 
you of the opinion that all men will be saved ? 



THE DIVINE OMNISCIENCE. 59 

A. By no means. 

Q. But you have no doubt it will be determined on 
the day of judgment who are to be saved, and who 
are to be lost. 

A. Certainly, sir. 

0. Is the great God under the necessity of waiting 
so long, before he can ascertain who the righteous are, 
that are to be saved, and who the wicked are, that are 
to be lost? 

A. By no means; for "known unto God are all his 
works from the beginning." Acts xv. 18. 

C. When do you suppose he obtained that know- 
ledge? 

A. (After a short pause.) He must have known it 
from eternity. 

C. Then it must have been fixed from eternity? 

A. That does not follow. 

C. Then it follows, that he did not know it from 
eternity, but only guessed at it ; for how can Omnis- 
cience know what is yet uncertain? 

A. Then it does seem that it must have been fixed 
from eternity. 

C. One question more will prove that you believe 
the doctrine of predestination. You have admitted 
what can never be disproved, viz. that God could not 
have known from eternity, who will be saved, &c. 
unless it had been fixed from eternity. If then it 
was fixed from eternity, who fixed it ? 

After this introduction we proceed to the work be- 
fore us. In reference to divine omniscience, Mr. 
Wesley and the General Conference- entertain views 
somewhat peculiar. Mr. Wesley says: "The almighty, 
all-wise God, sees and knows from everlasting to ever- 
lasting, all that is, that was, and that is to come, 
through one eternal now. With him nothing is past 
or future, but all things equally present. He has, 



60 THE DIVINE OMNISCIENCE. 

therefore, if we may speak according to the truth of 
things, no fore-knowledge, no after-knowledge."* 
The General Conference say : 6 'Properly speaking, 
there is no such thing as fore-knowledge or after- 
knowledge with God, but strictly knowledge, present 
knowledge."f 

But, as between an eternity past and an eternity to 
come there is a long interval, in which are many 
occurrences, it is difficult to conceive how " all 
things" can be " equally present" to the divine mind, 
or how it can be said that "with him nothing is past 
or future" — that not the creation of the world even, is 
a past event, or the day of judgment, future; or 
how it can be said he has " no fore-knowledge" of 
what will take place, or " after-knowledge" of what 
has taken place. Calvinists, therefore, greatly pre- 
fer the theology of the apostles Peter and Paul. The 
former tells us that Christ was " delivered according 
to the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge of 
God."{ And the latter says, "Whom be did fore- 
know, he also did predestinate," &c.§ 

Again, it is difficult to reconcile what Mr. Wesley 
and the General Conference say of the omniscience of 
God, with what they say of the doctrine of election. 
Speaking of the elect, they say, "It is plain the act of 
electing is in time, though known before"— that 
" they were not elected till some thousand years after 
the foundation of the world" — "were not chosen be- 
fore they believed. "|| But how could "the act of elect- 
ing be known before," if God has no fore-know- 
ledge ? 

Again, if to the divine mind "all things are equally 
present," so that " nothing is past or future," then 
the " conversion" of the elect was as much present in 

* Sermon on Predestination. 

-j- Methodist Magazine, Vol. iii. page 13. % Ac's ii. 23. 

§ Rom. viii. 29. || Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 138, 139. 



THE DIVINE OMNISCIENCE. 61 

eternity, as it is when the conversion takes place. If 
then the election took place at the time of their con- 
version, and their conversion was as much present to 
the divine mind in eternity past, as at any time since, 
how can it be said that " the election did not take 
place till some thousand years after the foundation of 
the world?" 

As Mr. Watson so completely refutes Mr. Wesley 
and the General Conference, we will let him speak. 
" The knowledge of the actual existence of things 
with God is successive, because things come into be- 
ing in succession. As to actual existences, there is 
fore-knowledge, present-knowledge, and after-know- 
ledge with God as with ourselves."* 

But again: If" the almighty, all-wise God, sees and 
knows from everlasting to everlasting, all that was, 
and that is to come, through an eternal now," then it 
follows, that all events are to him certainly known. 
And if they are certainly known, they are certainly 
fixed. And if they are certainly fixed, they cannot, 
by any agency of man, be changed. But how, it may 
be asked, can this be reconciled with the free agency 
of man ? Mr. Wesley saw this difficulty, and hence, 
in a letter to the Rev. Dr. Robertson, dated Septem- 
ber 24th, 1753, he says : " If any one asks, How is 
God's fore-knowledge consistent with our freedom? 
I plainly answer, I cannot tell."f When, therefore, 
the Calvinist is asked, " How are God's decrees con- 
sistent with our freedom?" he'replies as Wesley did in 
reference to the divine fore-knowledge, " I cannot 
tell." 

Now, as Mr. Wesley admits that the divine omni- 
science involves the consequences involved by the 
divine decrees, is it not strange he should overlook 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. v. 
f Works, Vol. vi. page 720. 

6 



62 THE DIVINE OMNISCIENCE. 

the former, yet say of the latter, " It destroys all the 
attributes of God at once. It overturns both his jus- 
tice, mercy, and truth. Yea, it represents the most 
holy God as worse than the devil; as both more false, 
more cruel, more unjust."* Why not say the same 
of fore-knowledge also, which, according to his own 
admission, is equally obnoxious to the charge? 

Mr. Watson and Dr. Fisk, to avoid the difficulty 
Mr. Wesley admitted, start on the farther side of the 
ditch they had to cross. The former says, "The 
prescience of God is also a subject by which Calvin- 
ists have endeavoured to give some plausibility to their 
system." And he argues, that "the simple know- 
ledge of an action, whether present, past, or to ccme, 
has no influence upon it of any kind. When, there- 
fore it is said, that what God foresees will certainly 
happen, nothing more can be reasonably meant than 
that he is certain it will happen" — that "there is this 
certainty in the divine mind as to the actions of men, 
that they will happen: but that they must happen, 
cannot follow from this circumstance. "f 

The latter says, "Whatever God foreknows, or 
foresees, will undoubtedly come to pass. But the 
simple question is, does the event take place because 
it is foreknown, or is it foreknown because it will take 
place. Or in other words, does God know an event 
to be certain, or does his knowing it to be certain, 
make it certain? The question thus stated, at once 
suggests the true answer ; for he would be considered 
a fool or a madman, who should seriously assert that 
a knowledge of a certainty produced that certainty. 
According to that, a certainty must exist in order to 
be foreknown, and it must be foreknown in order to 
exist. From all which it appears, that fore-know- 



* Sermon on Free Grace. 

-j- Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxviii. 



THE DIVINE OMNISCIENCE. Od 

ledge can have no influence in making a future event 
certain."* Each of these positions is, that the mere 
knowledge of an event does not render it certain. 
Calvinists contend, on the contrary, that an event 
cannot be certainly known, unless it is certain, and 
that the divine fore-knowledge necessarily implies the 
divine decrees. Let us see. 

Admitting the divine fore-knowledge, God must 
have known from eternity that the world would exist. 
But the world could not exist unless he would create 
it. Now, although he could know it might exist, he 
could not know it would exist unless he had deter- 
mined to create it. 

Again: Being omniscient, he must have always 
known that man would sin and fall. But man could 
not sin and fall unless created. God's knowledge of 
that event, therefore, depended on his decree to create 
man. But again : If God created man, knowing that 
he would sin and fall, he must have been willing on 
the whole that he should sin and fall, for otherwise, 
he would not have created him. But to will to create 
him, with the certain knowledge of a result that could 
not happen unless he was created, was to decree the 
result. The same is true of the betrayal and cruci- 
fixion of our Saviour, and, in short, of every act of 
every man on earth, so that the divine fore-knowledge 
necessarily implies the divine decrees, and involves all 
that they involve. And so, every objection which can 
be urged against the latter applies with equal force to 
the former also. Mr. Watson and Dr. Fisk, and the 
General Conference, would have been more consistent, 
therefore, if, like Mr. Wesley, they had acknowledged 
that they could not reconcile the divine fore-knowledge 
with the free agency of man.f 

* Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. 

f Arminianfi contend that the divine decrees are consequent of, 
and depend upon the divine i'orc-knowledge. To this we reply, that 



64 THE DIVINE OMNISCIENCE. 

To avoid tliis difficulty, the celebrated Adam Clarke 
adopted a theory which Mr. Watson ascribes to the 
Chevalier Ramsay.* 

" Omniscience," gays he, " or power to know all 
things, is an attribute of God, and exists in him as 
omnipotence, or power to do all things. . . God can- 
not have fore-knowledge strictly speaking, because this 
would suppose there was something coming, in what 
we call futurity, which had not yet arrived in the pre- 
sence of the Deity. Neither can he have any after- 
knowledge, strictly speaking, for this would suppose 
that something that had taken place in what we call 
preteriety or past time, had got beyond the presence 
of the Deity. As God exists in all that can be called 
eternity, so he is equally everywhere. Nothing can 
be past to him, because he equally exists in all past 
time ; futurity and preteriety are relative terms to us, 
but they can have no relation to that ' God with whom 
all that is past, all that is present, and all that is 
future to man, exists in one infinite, indivisible, and 
eternal now.' As God's omnipotence implies his 
power to do all things, so God's omniscience implies 
his power to know all things: but we must take heed 
that we meddle not with the infinite free agency of 
this eternal being. Though God can do all things, he 
does not do all things, but such only as are proper to 

be done God is omniscient, and can know 

all things, but does it follow from this that he must 
know all things? Is he not as free in the volitions of 
his wisdom, as he is in the volitions of his power. 

so far as a knowledge of "what ought to be, is concerned, it is true. 
But so far as the knowledge of what shall he is concerned, it is not 
true. God must have known what, on the whole, ought to be, be- 
fore he could knowingly decree that it should be. But then he 
could know nothing more than that it might be, until he decreed 
that it should be. 

* For this theory, see Watson's Theological Institutes, Part II. 
Chap. iv. 



THE DIVINE OMNISCIENCE. 65 

God has ordained some things absolutely certain. He 
has ordained others as contingent. By contingent, I 
mean such things as the infinite wisdom of God has 
poised on the possibility of being or not being, leaving 
it to the will of intelligent beings to turn the scale." 
"If there be no such things as contingencies in the 
world, then everything is fixed, and determined by 
an unalterable decree and purpose of God, and not 
only all free agency is destroyed, but all agency of 
every kind, except that of the Creator himself." 
" Thus all vice and virtue, praise and blame, merit 
and demerit, guilt and innocence, are at once con- 
founded, and all distinctions of this kind confounded 
with them. Now allowing the doctrine of contingency 
of human action, and it must be allowed, in order to 
shun the above absurdities and blasphemies, then we 
see every intelligent creature accountable for its own 
works, and for the use it makes of the power with 
which the Creator has endowed it."* 

If Paul wrote "some things hard to be under- 
stood, "f Dr. Clarke has written some things much 
harder. For when he says " God exists in all that 
can be called eternity" — "equally exists in all past 
time" — "dwells in every point of eternity," &c. he is 
too deep for a Calvinist. But when he adds, "with 
whom all that is past, all that is present, and all that 
is future to man, exists in one infinite, indivisible and 
eternal now," and yet says thene are some things God 
does not know, he blasphemously charges the Deity 
with being ignorant of what takes place in his pre- 
sence — or, in other words, with a degree of stupidity 
unknown among intelligent beings. Again he says, 
" Omniscience, or a power to know all things, is an 
attribute of God, and exists with him as omnipotence, 
or the power to do all things," &c. Here he teaches 

* Comments on Acts, Chap. ii. f 2 Peter iii. 16. 

6* 



66 THE DIVINE OMNISCIENCE. 

that omniscience, that is, knowing all things, is no- 
thing more than "a power to know," &c. 

But again, he charges the Deity with imposing upon 
himself voluntary ignorance. His argument is, that 
as there are some things God ought not to do, so 
there are some things, which if he should know, then 
certain disastrous consequences, which he names, must 
follow. Of course, then, he is culpable in proportion 
to the evils that creep into his government in conse- 
quence of this voluntary ignorance, and but for which 
they would have been prevented. Now this is a crime 
the people of these United States would not tolerate 
in their President. And yet Dr. Clarke says truly, 
there is no other way to avoid all the consequences of 
predestination. 

When we sat at the feet of the venerable Dr. Alex- 
ander, in 1827, he remarked in his Introductory Lec- 
ture to the new class, among other things we remem- 
ber, that " all knowledge is valuable;" and he there- 
fore urged us, " with all our getting, to get know- 
ledge." According to Dr. Clarke, however, this would 
not do for God, as there are some things he ought not 
to know. To us it appears, on the contrary, that God 
ought to know all things, so that if there are some 
things he ought not to know, he may know them ; and 
then, if it be true, that he " is as free in the volitions 
of his wisdom as he is in the volitions of his power," 
he can forget exactly all he ought not to know. 

Dr. Fisk, on the contrary, differs very widely from 
Dr. Clarke, "To know," says he, "is so essential to 
God, that the moment he ceases to know all that is, 
or will be, or might be, under any possible contin- 
gency, he ceases to be God."* 

This latter divine is certainly correct. But while 
he comes down on Dr. Clarke with Atheism, Dr. Clarke 

* Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. 



THE DIVINE OMNISCIENCE. 67 

comes down on him with Calvinism. On the whole, 
notwithstanding Dr. Clarke's notion is atheistical and 
blasphemous, yet, inasmuch as it met with great 
favour in the Methodist Church, till the appearance 
of Watson's Theological Institutes, it seems a pity 
that "brother Fisk" should be so severe on brother 
Clarke, especially as the latter was in favour with the 
General Conference long before the former was 
known. 

The Rev. R. Watson, after stating the theory of 
Dr. Clarke, says: " To this it may be answered, that 
the infinite power of God is in Scripture represented 
(as in the nature of things it must be) as an infinite 
capacity, and not as an infinite act; but the know- 
ledge of God is, on the contrary, never represented 
there as a capacity to acquire knowledge, but as actu- 
ally comprehending all things that are, and all things 
that can be. 2. That the choosing to know some things 
and not to know others, supposes a reason why he re- 
fuses to know any class of things or events, which 
reason, it would seem, can only arise out of their na- 
ture and circumstances, and therefore supposes at least 
a partial knowledge of them, from which the reason of 
his not choosing to know them arises. The doctrine is 
therefore somewhat contradictory. But — 3. It is fatal 
to this opinion, that it does not at all meet the diffi- 
culty arising out of the question of the congruity of 
divine prescience and the free actions of man ; since 
some contingent actions for which men have been 
made accountable, we are sure have been foreknown 
by God, because by his Spirit in the prophets, they 
were foretold, and if the freedom of man can in these 
cases be reconciled to the prescience of God, there is 
no greater difficulty in any other case which can pos- 
sibly occur."* 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. iy. 



68 THE DIVINE OMNISCIENCE. 

Again he says, " That man is accountable for his 
conduct, and therefore free, that is, laid under no in- 
vincible necessity of acting in a given manner, are 
doctrines clearly contained in the Bible, and the no- 
tion of necessity has here its full and satisfactory 
reply. But if a difficulty should be felt in reconciling 
the freedom of an action with the prescience of it, it 
affords not the slightest relief to deny the foreknow- 
ledge of God, as to actions in general, while the 
Scriptures contain predictions of the conduct of men, 
whose actions cannot have been determined by invin- 
cible necessity, because they were actions for which 
they received from God a just and marked punish- 
ment. Whether the scheme of relief be, that the 
knowledge of God, like his power, is arbitrary; or that 
the prescience of contingencies is impossible ; so long 
as the Scriptures are allowed to contain predictions 
of the conduct of men, good or bad, the difficulty re- 
mains in all its force. The whole body of prophecy 
is founded on the certain prescience of contingent 
actions, or it is not prediction, but guess and conjec- 
ture — to such fearful results does the denial of pres- 
cience lead! No one can deny that the Bible 
contains predictions of the rise and fall of several 
kingdoms — that Daniel, for instance, prophesied of 
the rise, the various fortunes, and the fall of the cele- 
brated monarchies of antiquity. But empires do not 
rise and fall wholly by immediate acts of God. They 
are not thrown up like new islands in the ocean; they 
do not fall like cities in an earthquake, by the direct 
exertion of divine power; they are carried through 
their various stages of advance and decline by the 
virtues and the vices of men, which God makes the 
instruments of their prosperity or their destruction. 
Counsels, wars, science, revolutions, all crowd in their 
agency, and the predictions are of the combined and 
ultimate results of all these circumstances, which, as 



THE DIVINE OMNISCIENCE. O'J 

arising out of the virtues and vices of men, out of 
innumerable acts of choice, are contingent. Seen, 
they must have been through all their stages, and 
seen in their results, for prophecy has registered those 
results. The prescience of them cannot be denied, 
for that is on record ; and if certain prescience in- 
volves necessity, then are the daily virtues and vices 
of men not contingent. It was predicted that Baby- 
lon should be taken by Cyrus in the midst of a mid- 
night revel, in which the gates should be left unguarded 
and open. Now, if all the actions which arose out of 
the warlike disposition and ambition of Cyrus were 
contingent, what becomes of the principle that it is 
impossible to foreknow contingencies? They were 
foreknown because the result of them was predicted. 
If the midnight revel of the Babylonian monarch was 
contingent (the circumstances which led to the neglect 
of the gates of the city) that also was foreknown, be- 
cause predicted; if not contingent, the actions of 
both monarchs were necessary, and to neither of them 
can be ascribed virtue or vice."* 

In these quotations Mr. Watson certainly over- 
throws, 

1. What he himself and Dr. Fisk says in a former 
part of this chapter, viz., " That there is no difficulty 
in reconciling the fore-knowledge of God with the free 
agency of man." They not only admit there is a dif- 
ficulty, but give it a Calvinistic answer. And, 

2. They overthrow the theory of Dr. Clarke. 

But again, in the "Methodist Magazine," Vol. iii. 
page 13, a writer, after defining the omniscience of 
God, says, " Should it be asked how entire freedom 
of action agrees with this knowledge? I answer, I 
cannot tell. . . . The plain truth is, the subject is 
too far removed from the province of our faculties and 

* Theological Institutes, Tart II. Chap. iv. 



70 THE DIVINE OMNISCIENCE. 

the sphere of human science, to afford us any safe or 
satisfactory conclusions. We must therefore satisfy 
ourselves on the subject from what we perceive in our- 
selves, from what we observe in others, and from what 
it has pleased God to reveal to us. We are conscious 
of acting freely; from analogy and observation we are 
convinced that our fellow-creatures do the same, and 
nothing is more obvious than that the divine laws 
embracing precepts, rewards and punishments, recog- 
nize man as a voluntary, not a necessary agent, and 
consequently at liberty to obey or disobey. On such 
evidence we must rest till it shall please God to de- 
velope what has hitherto been locked up in the trea- 
sury of eternal wisdom." 

Here then the same difficulty is admitted in refer- 
ence to the divine omniscience, which Calvinists admit 
in reference to the divine decrees, viz., " How entire 
freedom of action agrees with" them; and the same 
answer is given by Arminians in reference to the dif- 
ficulty they admit, which Calvinists give to the objec- 
tion charged against the divine decrees. Is it asked, 
Why then do the former urge this objection so furi- 
ously against predestination only? We answer, This 
is one of their inconsistencies. 

Again, Arminians admit they cannot reconcile the 
sincerity of God, in exhorting, warning, and inviting 
those that perish with the certain fore-knowledge that 
they will perish. 

"That God should prohibit many things," say they, 
" which he nevertheless knows will occur, and in the 
prescience of which he regulates his dispensations to 
bring out of these circumstances various results which 
he makes subservient to the displays of his mercy and 
his justice; and particularly in the case of those indi- 
viduals, who he knows will finally perish, he exhorts, 
warns, invites, and in a word takes active and in- 
fluential means to prevent a foreseen result. This 



THE DIVINE OMNISCIENCE. 71 

forms the difficulty; because in the case of man, the 
prescience of failure would, in many cases, paralyze 
all effort; whereas in the government of God, men are 
treated in our views with as much intensity of care 
and effort, as though the issue of things was entirely 
unknown. But if the perplexity arises from this, no- 
thing can be more clear than that the question is not 
how to reconcile God's prescience with the freedom 
of man, but how to reconcile the conduct of God to- 
wards man considered as a free agent, with his own 
prescience — how to assign a congruity to warnings, 
exhortations and other means adopted to prevent de- 
struction as to individuals, with the certain foresight 
of that terrible result."* 

To this they give the following answer, viz. 

" In this, however, no moral attribute of God is 
impugned. On the contrary, mercy requires the pub- 
lication of the means of deliverance, if man be under 
a dispensation of grace, and justice requires it if man 
is to be judged for the use or abuse of mercy. The 
difficulty then entirely resolves itself into a mere mat- 
ter of feeling, which of course, (as we cannot be judges 
of a nature infinite in perfection, nor of proceedings, 
which, in the unlimited range of the government of 
God, may have connections and bearings beyond our 
comprehension,) we cannot reduce to a human stand- 
ard. . . . Are we to deny that we have no proper or 
direct notions of God because we cannot find him out 
to perfection? . . . We fall into new difficulties 
through these speculations, but do not escape the true 
one. If the freedom of man is denied, the moral at- 
tributes of God are impugned, and the difficulty, as a 
matter of feeling is heightened. Divine prescience 
cannot be denied, because the prophetic Scriptures 
have determined that already; and if Archbishop 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. iv. 



72 



THE DECREES OF GOD. 



King's interpretation of fore-knowledge be resorted to, 
the something substituted for prescience and equiva- 
lent to it comes in to bring us back to the fallacious 
circle, to the point from which we started."* 

A part of this answer is rational and scriptural, 
but a part of it is not. We, however, will let it stand 
for what it is worth. Is it asked again, Why do Ar- 
minians so furiously urge an objection against the 
Calvinistic doctrine of Election and of the Atonement 
(viz. that they cannot be reconciled to the exhorta- 
tions, calls and warnings of the gospel,) which they 
admit lies with equal force against the fore-knowledge 
of God ? We answer, This is another of their incon- 
sistencies. 

We have now presented the reader with another 
four-sided figure, viz., one side by Wesley and the 
General Conference, one side by Dr. Clarke, one side 
by Dr. Fisk, Mr. Watson and the General Confer- 
ence, and one side by Mr. Watson. Now, as these 
are all standard authors in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and as the Articles of Religion of that Church 
are silent on the subject under review, any minister 
or layman in that communion may embrace any or all 
of these conflicting views, and still be reputed orthodox. 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE DECREES OF GOD. 



In this chapter we take up the Decrees of God, 
and if we mistake not, will find the inconsistency of 
Arminians as great here as on any subject yet con- 
sidered. The Calvinistic view may be briefly stated thus : 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. iv. 



THE DECREES OF COD. 73 

As the knowledge, wisdom, goodness and power of 
men change, their principles and purposes of action 
are changed also. With the knowledge a man pos- 
sesses, he may determine how he will act in a given 
case, but with an increase of knowledge, or under an 
impulse of passion, he may determine otherwise. 
With the knowledge he has he may determine to buy 
a certain farm, or set out to a distant city; but if he 
afterwards learns that the title to the farm is worth- 
less, or that the plague is in the city, he changes his 
purpose. Now, if his knowledge had been perfect 
from the beginning, his purpose would have been fixed 
from the beginning. In the common affairs of life, 
all sensible men determine beforehand how they will 
carry on their* usiness, and that determination is 
formed in accordance with the best information they 
can obtain. In cases where they must act, they de- 
termine how they will act, as soon as they know how 
they ought to act, unless some unhallowed influence 
interferes. Now, as the knowledge and wisdom of 
God were always infinite, he must have always known 
how he ought to act in every case. His holiness being 
perfect, always prompts him to decree to act correctly. 
And his power being infinite, always enables him to 
act as his holy attributes direct. Now as he was al- 
ways possessed of these attributes, he can have no 
accession of knowledge nor succession of ideas. And 
as he always knew how he ought to act, he must have 
eternally determined how he would act in all cases in 
all time to come. Accordingly, he says of himself, 
M I am the Lord, I change not;"* "the Father of 
lights, in whom is no variableness, neither the 
shadow of a turning ;"f "I am God, and there is none 
like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and 
from ancient times the things that are not yet done, 

* Malachi iii. 6. f James iii. 7. 

7 



74 THE DECREES OF GOD. 

saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my 
pleasure."* Hence, Job says of him, " He is of one 
mind, who !can turn him;"f and Job says, "The 
counsel of the Lord shall stand for ever, the thoughts 
of bis heart to all generations. "J 

The sacred writers, it is true, do speak of changes 
in God, but in so doing, they " speak after the manner 
of men" in condescension to us.§ 

If then " the counsel of the Lord shall stand for 
ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations," 
what he does, he must have eternally intended to do ; 
and what he permits to be done, he must have eter- 
nally intended to permit. Accordingly we read of 
our " being predestinated according to the purpose of 
him who worketh all things after the* counsel of his 
own will." |' If we inquire, when was this purpose 
formed? Paul answers, "According to the eternal 
purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our 
Lord."T The Shorter Catechism of the Presbyterian 
Church, therefore, in answer to the question, " What 
are the decrees of God?" gives the following answer, 
viz. 

"The decrees of God are his eternal purpose ac- 
cording to the counsel of his will, whereby for his 
own glory he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to 
pass."** 

Here it will be observed, that the Catechism con- 
tains the exact sentiment of the Scriptures, expressed 
in almost the very language of the Holy Spirit. 
Some years ago a young lawyer of our acquaint- 
ance, on being brought to a saving knowledge of the 
truth, had the Presbyterian Confession of Faith put 
into his hands, under the hope, on the part of him 
who loaned it, that it would " set him right in regard 

* Isaiah xliv. 10. f Psalm xxxiii. 11. J Job xxiii. 13. 
I Rom. iii. 5. || Eph. i. 11. \ Eph. iii. 11. 

** Question 7. 



THE DECREES OF GOD. 75 

to Calvinism." After reading what is said of the 
Divine attributes, in Chapter II., and seeing that 
what is said in Chapter III. must follow, he remarked, 
to the no little disappointment of his Arminian friend, 
" I would as leave read the Bible without a God, as to 
read it, if it did not teach predestination." 

But to the doctrine, that God governs men accord- 
ing to fixed decrees, it is objected that it necessarily 
destroys the free agency of man, and consequently, 
makes God the author of sin. 

To this we reply, Calvinists make a distinction be- 
tween the positive and permissive decrees of God. 
That is, they maintain that God has decreed posi- 
tively, or efficaciously, all that is good, and permis- 
sively all that is evil; and that in decreeing to permit 
the evil, he intended to bound it by his holiness and 
overrule it for good, so that " the wrath of man shall 
praise him and the remainder of wrath he will re- 
strain."* Thus says the Confession of Faith, Chapter 
III. Sec. 1, "God from all eternity, did by the most 
wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and un- 
changeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass, yet so 
as thereby neither is God the author or approver of 
sin, nor is violence done to the will of the creature, 
nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes 
taken away, but rather established." 

Here then we are taught, 

1. That God has from eternity unchangeably or- 
dained whatsoever comes to pass. 

2. That this ordination is in such a way that " he 
is not thereby the author or approver of sin, nor is 
violence offered to the will of the creature, nor is the 
liberty or contingency of second causes (that is, means) 
taken away, but rather established." If, therefore, 
man is a free moral agent, (which no one doubts) 

* Psalm lxxvi. 10. 



76 THE DECREES OE GOD. 

it was God who made him free; and if he made him 
free, he decreed to make him free ; so that he is a free 
agent by the decree of God — a free agent of neces- 
sity, so that he is not free to cease being free. 

If it is asked, How is this possible? the Confession 
answers, " Although in relation to the fore-knowledge 
of God, all things come to pass immutably and infalli- 
bly, yet, by the same providence, he ordereth them to 
fall out according to the nature of second causes,* 
either necessarily, freely, or contingently, "f 

" The Almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and 
infinite goodness of God, so far manifest themselves 
in his providence, that it extendeth itself even to the 
first fall, and to all other sins of angels and men, and 
that, not by a bare permission, but such as hath 
joined with it a most holy bounding, and otherwise 
ordering and governing them, in a manifold dispensa- 
tion, to his own holy ends, yet so that the sinfulness 
thereof proceedeth only from the creature, and not 
from God, who being most noly, and righteous, neither 
is, nor can be, the author or approver of sin. "J 

Here then we are taught, 

1. That the providence of God extendeth itself to 
all sin. 

2. That although God in his inscrutable providence 
sees proper to permit sin, he does not let it take 
its legitimate course, but has joined with the permis- 
sion " a most holy bounding, and otherwise ordering 
and governing it in a manifold dispensation to his 
own holy ends." 

* Having decreed the overthrow of the Babylonian government, 
the second causes were Cyrus and his army. Having decreed to 
save the family of Jacob from famine, the second causes were 
Joseph and his brethren. Having decreed the independence of the 
United States, the second causes were the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, George Washington, and his army, &c. 

f Conf. of Faith, Chap. v. Sec. iii. % Ibid. Sec. iv. 



THE DECREES OP GOD. 77 

3. That although he permits sin, " the sinfulness 
thereof proceedeth only from the creature, and not 
from God, who being most holy and righteous, neither 
is, nor can be, the author or approver of it." That for 
a man, knowingly to permit sin, when he could pre- 
vent it, would be a sin, is self-evident; but it does not 
follow that it is necessarily so with God. The Rev. 
R. Watson very correctly remarks — " As we cannot 
be judges of a nature infinite in perfection, nor of 
proceedings which in the unlimited range of the go- 
vernmpnt of God may have connections and bearings 
beyond all our comprehension, we cannot reduce (them) 
to a human standard."* 

But to return to the Confession of Faith : 

Chap. VI. Sec. 1, says, " Our first parents being 
seduced by the subtilty of the devil, sinned in eating 
the forbidden fruit. This, their sin, God was pleased 
according to his wise and holy counsel to permit, hav- 
ing purposed to order it to his own glory." The 
Larger Catechism says, " God, by his providence, 
permitted some angels wilfully and irrecoverably to 
fall into sin and damnation, limiting and controlling 
that, and all their sins to his own glory." Question 19. 

In an Explanatory Catechism published in Scotland 
a hundred years ago, which has ever since been a 
standard work in the Presbyterian Church, and is 
now published by our Board of Publication, we have 
the following questions and answers, viz. 

" Question. How do the decrees of God extend to 
things naturally and morally good? 

Ansiver. Effectively: becaused God is the author 
and effective cause of all good. Phil. ii. 13. 

Q. How do they extend to things morally evil ? 

A. Permissively and decretively only. Acts xiv. 

* Theological Institutes, Tart II. Chap. iv. 

7* 



78 THE DECREES OF GOD. 

Q. Is the permissive decree a bare inactive permit- 
ting of evil ? 

A. No, it determines the event of the evil permit- 
ted and overrules it to a good end contrary to the 
intention both of the work and of the worker. Gen. 
xlv. 8; 1. 20. 

Q. How do you prove that God cannot be the au- 
thor of sin? 

A. From the contrariety of it to his holy nature 
and law, and the indignation he has manifested against 
it in what Christ suffered on account of it, for he can 
never be the author of that of which he is the 
avenger."* 

The doctrine of the Presbyterian Church, in rela- 
tion to the divine decrees, then is, 

1. That God did foreordain whatever comes to 
pass, yet so that he is not the author or approver 
of sin. 

2. That his decrees not only offer no violence to 
the will of the creature, but rather establish the free 
agency of man, the use of means, &c. 

3. That he has decreed positively all that is good, 
and permissively all that is evil. 

4. That he has joined with the permission of evil a 
most holy bounding, &c. 

We will show next that this Calvinistic doctrine of 
the Presbyterian Church, is a doctrine of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church. 

The Rev. R. Watson says, " If we consider the na- 
ture of God, that he is a self-existent and independent 
Being, the great Creator, and wise Governor of all 
things — that he is a spiritual and simple being, void 

* Fisher's Catechism, page 46. For further proof on this sub- 
ject the reader is referred to the following books of the Presby- 
terian Board of Publication, viz. Dr. Green's Lectures on the 
Shorter Catechism, Question 7; Bible Dictionary, Article "De- 
cree;" Standards of the Presbyterian Church," a Tract. 



THE DECREES OF GOD. 79 

of all parts and all mixtures that can induce a change 
— that he is a sovereign and uncontrollable being 
which nothing from without can affect or work an al- 
teration in — that he is an eternal being which always 
has, and always will go on in the same tenor of his 
existence — an omniscient being, who knowing all 
things, has no reason to act contrary to his first re- 
solves — and in all respects a most perfect being, that 
admits of no addition or diminution, we cannot but 
believe that in his essence, in his knowledge, in his 
will and purposes, he must of necessity be unchange- 
able We esteem changeableness in men 

either an imperfection or a fault. Their natural 
changes as to their persons are from weakness and 
vanity. Their moral changes as to their inclinations 
and purposes, are from ignorance or inconstancy, and 
therefore this quality is no way compatible with the 
glory and attributes of God."* 

The reader will recollect that in stating the Cal- 
vinistic view of the divine decrees, we argued that 
they necessarily resulted from the divine attributes. 
He will here discover that this divine infers the de- 
crees of God in the same way, viz., That in conse- 
quence of his perfect attributes, he " has no reason to 
act contrary to his first resolves," but that "in his 
essence, knowledge, will and purposes (or decrees) he 
must of necessity be unchangeable. "f 

Again, Mr. Watson says, " The plans of God reach 
from the beginning to the end 'of time; they pass the 

limits of time and issue in eternity And 

thus it has been from the foundation of the world : 
God subordinating everything to the counsel of his 
own will, has been making everything, whether bright 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. v. 

f It may not be amiss to state that the language which Mr. Wat- 
son here adopts, as expressing his own views, is quoted from that 
staunch old Calvinist, Charnock. 



80 THE DECREES OP GOD. 

or dark, whether forward or retrograde in its move- 
ment, to accomplish more fully and illustriously his 
great and glorious designs."* 

No one could state more clearly and unequivocally 
the Oalvinistic view of the divine decrees. 

But we have "line upon line and precept upon 
precept." Mr. Watson, speaking of the death of 
Christ, says again : " We behold wicked men and 
the ever blessed God accomplishing opposite and con- 
trary purposes. The intention of the Jews was suf- 
ficiently obvious — it was to destroy Christ and his 
religion together. " If we put him to death," they 
reasoned, "we prove that he is not the Messiah, and 
the people cannot then believe on him — with him, his 
doctrine and his followers will perish also." Thus they 
took counsel together against the Lord and against 
his Christ. In part they accomplished their purpose, 
and seemed fully to have accomplished it. They did 
put him to death. His disciples forsook him and went 
to their own homes. Doubtless the priests and elders 
went from the cross congratulating themselves on the 
success of their attempt against his life and against 
his religion. Ah, the blindness of man ! "The coun- 
sel of the Lord standeth sure." "He taketh the wise 
in their own craftiness." Christ, it is true, was put 
to death by wicked men; but in this they only accom- 
plished " the determinate counsel and foreknowledge 
of God."f 

" What the creature will do, is known beforehand 
with a perfect prescience; and what God has deter- 
mined to do in consequence, is made apparent by what 
he actually does, which is with him no new, no sudden 
thought, but known and purposed from eternity in 
view of the actual circumstances."! 

* Sermon on Ezekiel's Vision. 

f Sermon on the Final Hour of Christ. 

J Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxviii. 



THE DECREES OF GOD. 81 

" lie who is allowed to be the First Cause, and the 
principle of motion in every created being; lie who 
communicated and determined their respective powers 
and capacities, must of course have reserved to him- 
self the superior power, the privilege or prerogative 
of suspending, diverting, or in any way overruling 
their agency; so as may best serve his wise purposes, 
which can never be served at all unless we suppose all 
events to be under his inspection, and all councils to 
be subject to his pleasure."* 

The Shorter Catechism of the Presbyterian Church 
does not express the Calvinistic doctrine of the divine 
decrees more unequivocally than these divines have 
done, when it says, 

" The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, ac- 
cording to the counsel of his own will, whereby for 
his own glory he hath foreordained whatsoever comes 
to pass." 

It has already been shown that Calvinists make a 
distinction between the positive and permissive de- 
crees of God. We will now show that such a distinc- 
tion is recognized by the Methodists also. Thus Mr. 
Wesley, in an attempt to show that we derive great 
advantages from the fall of man (although in so doing, 
he walks by sight, where Calvinists walk by faith 
only)j5ays, ^ 

"Unless in Adam all had died, every child of man 
must have personally answered for himself to God." 
And he asks, "Who would wish to hazard a whole 
eternity upon one stake? Is it not infinitely more 
desirable to be in a state wherein, though encompass- 
ed with infirmities, we do not run such a desperate 
risk, but if we fall we may rise again?" "Where then 
is the man that presumes to blame God for not pre- 

* Germs of Thought, pp. 7G, 77. First American from the first 
London edition. Published and sold by X. Bangs .$: T. Mason, for 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. 1821. 



OZ THE DECREES OF GOD. 

venting Adam's sin? Should we not rather hless him 
from the ground of the heart, for therein laying the 
grand scheme of man's redemption, and making way 
for that glorious manifestation of his wisdom, holi- 
ness, justice and mercy." "Although a thousand 
particulars of his judgments and of his ways are un- 
searchable to us, and past finding out, yet we may 
discern the general scheme running through time into 
eternity. According to tfce counsel of his own will, 
the plan he laid before the foundation of the world, 
he created the parent of mankind in his own image, 
and he permitted all men to be made sinners by the 
disobedience of this one man, that by the obedience 
of one, all, who receive the free gift, may be infinitely 
holier and happier to all eternity."* 

Here we are taught that "all men were permitted 
to be made sinners by the disobedience of one, 
according to a plan laid before the foundation of the 
world," or, in other words, a permissive decree joined 
with " a most holy bounding," as the Confession of 
Faith says. 

Dr. A. Clarke says, "All who have read the Scrip- 
tures with care, know well that God is frequently re- 
presented in them as doing what he only permits to 
be done."f "All power must originally emanate 
from God, hence, sin and Satan can neither exist or 
act, but as he wills or permits. "| 

Rev. R. Watson says, " The decrees of God . . . 
can only scripturally signify the determinations of his 
will in the government of the world he has made. 

* Sermon on God's Love to Fallen Man. Here Mr. Wesley turns 
Hopkinsian, and teaches that "sin is the necessary means of the 
greatest good." We have heard of those who prayed that God would 
forgive them for the sin of Adam, but never before of one who 
thanked him for it, and "for therein laying the grand scheme of 
man's redemption," &c., since but for that sin we would not need 
redemption. 

f Clarke's Theology, page 78. % Ibid, page 71. 



THE DECREES OF GOD. 83 

These determinations are plainly in Scripture referred 
to two classes, what he has himself determined to do, 
and what he has determined to permit to be done by 
free and accountable agents. He determined for in- 
stance, to create man, and he determined to permit 
his fall. He determined also the only method of dis- 
pensing pardon to the guilty, but he determined to 
permit men to reject it, and fall into the punishment 

of their offences If man has not a real 

agency, that is, if there is a necessity above him so 
controlling his actions as to render it impossible they 
should be otherwise, he is in the hands of another, 
and not master of himself, and so his actions cease to 
be his own. A decree to permit involves no such con- 
sequences."* Again he says, "God is under no 
obligation of justice at once to interpose and check 
the evils to which the wickedness of man gives 
rise; but he suffers them on the contrary, to ex- 
pend themselves, in all their injurious consequences, 
that men may be taught wisdom by a bitter ex- 
perience, "f 

"He has permitted infidelity to display itself in its 
full character, for the warning and instruction of 
mankind." "This evil has been permitted to exhibit 
itself upon a large scale." "He who reigneth hath 
permitted it to exhibit the dreadful effects upon the 
happiness and interests of nations as well as of indi- 
viduals, that it might appear that 'righteousness' only 
'exalteth a nation' with durable prosperity. "J 

Other quotations might be added, but let these suf- 
fice. They teach fully the doctrine of the Confession 
of Faith. We will show next, that the doctrine under 
consideration is a comforting doctrine. 

Thus says Wesley, "A serious clergyman desired 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chapter xxviii. 

f Sermon on the Reign of God. J Ibid. 



84 THE DECREES OF GOD. 

to know in what points we (Methodists) differed from 
the Church of England ; I answered, to the best of my 
knowledge, in none. The doctrines we teach are the 
doctrines of the Church of England — indeed, the fun- 
damental doctrines of the Church as clearly laid down 
both in her Prayers, Articles, and Homilies."* 

From this it appears that the doctrinal views of Mr. 
Wesley and his followers differed in nothing from the 
doctrines of the Church of England. Now, as his 
biographer, the Rev. R. Watson, informs us, that in 
this statement Mr. Wesley " stated his doctrinal 
views in as clear a manner, though in a summary 
form, as at any period subsequently,"f it is only 
necessary to turn to Article XVII. of the Church of 
England (latter part) to learn how he was comforted 
by the doctrine of predestination. 

"The godly consideration of predestination, and of 
our election in Christ, is full of sweet, pleasant, and 
unspeakable comfort to godly persons, and such as 
feel in themselves the working of the Spirit of Christ, 
mortifying the works of the flesh, and their earthly 
members, and drawing up their minds to high and 
heavenly things, as well, because it doth greatly 
establish and confirm their faith of eternal salvation, 
to be enjoyed through Christ, as because it doth 
fervently kindle their love towards God." 

From the life of Mrs. Hester Ann Rodgers of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, published by the Gen- 
eral Conference, we make the following extract. 

"I am still kept in various trials. This day, the 
following letter was, as if sent of God to strengthen 
me. 'My dear sister, the trials which a gracious 
Providence sends, or permits, may be so many means 
of growing in grace; and particularly of increasing 
in faith, patience, and resignation. And are they 

* Watson's Life of Wesley, pp. 76, 77. f Ibid. 



THE DECREES OF GOD. 85 

not all chosen for us in infinite wisdom and good- 
ness? So that we may well subscribe to these 
beautiful lines : 

•With patient mind, thy course of duty run; 
God nothing does, or suffers to be done, 
But thou wonldst do thyself, if thou couldst see, 
The end of all events, as well as he.' "* 

The trials which a gracious Providence sends or 
permits, include all the trials we are called to bear. 
But these, whether sent or permitted, are "all chosen 
for us in infinite wisdom and goodness." This is 
Calvinism to the core. 

Again, " God nothing does, or suffers to be done." 
What "God does, and suffers to be done," embraces 
all that is done. Now, if the divine purposes em- 
brace all this, they embrace everything. 

Once more. The Rev. R. Watson, in his sermon 
on " The Vision of Ezekiel," after stating, as we have 
seen, that " The plans of God reach from the begin- 
ning to the end of time — pass the limits of time and 
issue in eternity;" and that "thus it has been from 
the foundation of the world; God subordinating 
everything to the counsel of his own will, has been 
making everything .... to accomplish more fully 
and illustriously his great and glorious designs," saye, 
"In all the dispensations of Divine Providence, 
whether as to nations or individuals, there is an end, 
a design; and to understand this is a great part of 
the practical knowledge of man. In the turnings 
and changings of this mighty providence of God, 
have your hopes been frustrated, and your plans 
blasted? The eyes are there; there is an end to 
which this movement ^ooks, of instruction, admoni- 
tion, and reproof — lessons deeply important for you 

* Life of Mrs. Rodgers, page 54. 
8 



86 THE DECREES OF GOD. 

to learn. Have those turnings brought about some 
unexpected deliverance, some signal mercy? The 
eyes are there too; there is a reference to some great 
practical end, to quicken thy zeal, to rouse thy grati- 
tude, and to make obedience the effect of an increas- 
ingly excited and strengthened devotion 

Have these wheels driven over and crushed your 
comforts, and joys, and best earthly interests? Still 
are the eyes there. Perhaps the whole design has 
not been manifested, and there may be much of mys- 
tery yet; but thou art called by this dispensation from 
earth — thou art reminded that this is not thy rest, 
Have these wheels, instinct with divine wrath, turned 
on some careless sinful man, and swept him away in 
his wickedness? The eyes are there. This is a 
solemn and impressive warning to others, an admoni- 
tion against delays," &c. 

The comfort derived in all these cases is legiti- 
mate. It naturally results from the Calvinistic doc- 
trine of the divine decrees. And if Methodists may 
derive it in such abundance, the decrees of Grod are 
not so " horrible" after all. Having shown that all 
for which Calvinists contend, in reference to positive 
and permissive predestination, is taught, endorsed, 
and published by the General Conference of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and great comfort de- 
rived therefrom, we will show next that the distinc- 
tion between the positive and permissive decrees, is 
as directly and decidedly denied by Methodists. 

Rev. Professor Alcinous Young of the Pittsburgh 
Conference says, "Decree to permit! sounds very 
strange indeed. Surely the Presbyterians must be 
very fond of the word decree. Where do they find 
this strange jumble of words? Decree to permit! 
It is surely not found in the Bible, unless they have 
a Bible different from mine. It is self-begotten, and 



THE DECREES OF GOD. 87 

has jumped into the controversy to help the Cal- 
vinists."* Did Mr. Young never read Acts xiv. 16, 
Rom. i. 24-28, to say nothing of the writers of his 
own Church we have quoted? 

The Rev. N. L. Bangs says, "How absurd is 
it for men who so pertinaciously contend for this 
doctrine" (of positive decrees) " as the fundamental 
principle of their system, to amuse their readers 
by talking about the permission of sin. Are they 
secretly disgusted with their own scheme, and the 
proper terms they have used to convey appropriate 
ideas of it, and therefore have invented others, 
because more soft? .... If they mean by permis- 
sion, that God gave a formal permit, for instance, to 
Adam and Eve to commit sin, and through them to 
all others, and then left them entirely to their own 
agency, and the influence of the serpent, why not 
speak plain and let us understand their meaning."t 

Dr. Fisk says, " We protest in the name of all that 
is pure in language, in the name of all that is im- 
portant in the sentiment conveyed by language, 

against such an abuse of terms Do the words 

predestinate, or foreordain, or decree, mean in com- 
mon language, or even in their radical and critical 
definition, nothing more than permit — not absolutely 
to hinder — to submit to as an unavoidable but offen- 
sive evil? "J 

Here then we have the Arminianism of the Rev. N. 
L. Bangs, Professor Young, President Fisk, and the 
General Conference, arrayed against the Calvinism of 
Wesley, Mrs. Rodgers, Watson, the General Confer- 
ence, and the Bible. But again, notwithstanding the 
unchangeableness of God's purposes is admitted, as 



* Marriage Dinner, page 19. 
f Reply to Haskel, pp. 20, 21. 
X Calvinistic Controversy, No. I. 



88 THE DECREES OF GOD. 

we have seen, it is contended that he does sometimes 
change them. Thus says the Rev. R. Watson : 

"We have instances of the revocation of God's de- 
crees, as well as of their conditional character, one of 
which will be sufficient for illustration. In the case 
of Eli, 'I said indeed that thy house, and the house 
of thy seed, should walk before me for ever; but now 
saith the Lord, Be it far from me; for them that 
honour me I will honour, and they that despise me 
shall be lightly esteemed.' No passage can more 
strongly refute the Calvinistic notion of God's immu- 
tability, which they seem to place in his never chang- 
ing his purpose, whereas in fact the scriptural doctrine 
is, that it consists in his never changing the princi- 
ples of his administration."* 

Although we could easily make it appear that "no 
passage" less "strongly refutes the Calvinistic notion 
of God's immutability" than this, the only one here 
adduced, yet as there are others much stronger, and 
which are confidently relied on,' we will state them 
ourselves, and then reply to the whole. 

God said to Hezekiah, "Set thy house in order, for 
thou shalt die, and not live." But on the repentance 
of the king, he said, "I have heard thy prayer, I 
have seen thy tears; behold I will add unto thy days 
fifteen years, "f 

Again, he said to the Ninevites by the prophet 
Jonah, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be over- 
thrown." But on the repentance of the Ninevites, 
Nineveh was not overthrown. J The question now 
arises, Did God really change his "purposes" in any 
of these cases ? Methodists themselves shall answer 
the question. 

We have already seen that "he is in all respects a 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxviii. 

f Isaiah xxxviii. 1 — 5. % Jonah iii. 



THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 89 

most perfect being," so that "we cannot but believe 
that in his will and purposes (or decrees) he must of 
necessity be unchangeable." " An omniscient being, 
who knowing all things, has no reason to act contrary 
to his first resolves." If then "what the house of 
Eli, Hezekiah and the Ninevites" would do, was 
known beforehand with a perfect prescience, and what 
God determined to do in consequence, is made known 
by what he actually did, and which is with him no 
new, no sudden thought, but known and purposed from 
eternity in view of the actual circumstances,"* to us 
it is evident that "the scriptural doctrine of God's 
immutability consists in his never changing" either 
"the principles" or purposes "of his administration." 
We have now shown that the Calvinistic doctrine 
of the divine decrees, though admitted and denied in 
the Methodist Church, is true. We have seen also 
that the Calvinistic distinction between the positive 
and permissive decrees of God, though admitted and 
denied in the same Church, is true also. The great 
Robert Hall has, therefore, well remarked, that " If 
any man says he is a decided Arminian, the infer- 
ence is, that he is not a good logician."! 



CHAPTER IX 



THE DOCTUIXE OF ELECTION. 



On the subject of this chapter, Calvinists have long 
been divided into what are called Supralapsarian, 
and Sublapsarian. Of these, the former (who have 
never been more than a very small fraction) suppose 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxviii. 
| Works, Vol. iii. page -jo. 
8* 



90 THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 

that in the decree of election, God regarded the 
human family without any reference to their fall and 
sinfulness. The latter maintain that he contemplated 
them as fallen in Adam, and totally depraved ; " by 
nature the children of wrath,"* and under sentence 
of " condemnation. "f That in view of this "he did 
not leave all men to perish in the estate of sin and 
misery, into which they fell by the breach of the first 
covenant, commonly called the covenant of works;"J 
" but according to his eternal and immutable purpose, 
and the secret counsel of his will, he hath chosen 
in Christ, unto everlasting glory, out of his mere free 
grace and love, without any foresight of faith or good 
works, or perseverance in either of them, or any 
other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes 
moving him thereunto; and all to the praise of his 
glorious grace."§ 

On these points the mind of Calvin does not 
appear to have been entirely settled ; consequently, 
he wrote sometimes as a Supralapsarian, and, at 
others, as a Sublapsarian. And hence his assailants 
quote him when he wrote as the former, and his 
defenders quote him when he wrote as the latter. 
The Presbyterian Board of Publication, therefore, in 
giving to the public a new edition of his Institutes, 
say expressly that "some of his expressions in refer- 
ence to the doctrine of reprobation, may be regarded 
as too unqualified," and that "we do not wish to be 
regarded as adopting all the sentiments and forms of 
expression of the venerated writer."| 

All who adopt the Confession of Faith and Cate- 
chisms of the Presbyterian Church, are Sublapsarian. 

* Ephesians ii. 3. f Rom. v. 16, 18. 

J Larger Catechism, Question 30. 
| Confession of Faith, Chap. iii. Sec. v. 

|| See advertisement to the edition of Calvin's Institutes by the 
Presbyterian Board of Publication. 



THE DOCTRINE OP ELECTION. 91 

This is true also of the Calvinists we are about to 
notice. 

Mr. Wesley, speaking of God, says, " According 
to the counsel of his own will, the plan he laid before 
the foundation of the world, he created the parent of 
all mankind in his own image, and he permitted all 
men to be made sinners by the disobedience of this 
one man, that by the obedience of one, all who 
receive the free gift may be infinitely holier and hap- 
pier to all eternity."* 

Mr. Wesley here teaches distinctly that the plan 
of man's salvation was laid before the foundation of 
the world, in view of the fall. 

Dr. Fisk says, "None of us deny but that Jesus 
Christ was delivered up to suffer and die, by the 
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God."f 
Again he says, "As God foresaw they (Adam and 
Eve) would sin, he also determined upon the plan he 
would pursue in reference to them as sinners. "J In 
other words, the plan of salvation. 

Evidently then, "the determinate counsel" under 
which " Jesus Christ was delivered up to suffer and 
die" was formed before man had sinned, or as the 
Apostle Peter expresses it, "before the foundation of 
the world ;"§ and so, in view of man, as fallen. 

The Rev. R. Watson says, " The great plan of 
redeeming mercy was formed in eternity; there infi- 
nite wisdom arranged and infinite love cherished it. 
The world was framed for its- manifestations, but the 
times and the seasons were reserved by the Father 
in his own power."|| 

Again he says, "The redemption of man by Christ 
was not certainly an after thought, brought in upon 

* Sermon on God's Love to Fallen Man. 

f Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. J Ibid. No. I. 

\ 1 Peter i. 20. || Sermon on the Cherubim and Mercy Seat. 



92 THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 

man's apostasy. It was a provision, and when man 
fell, he found justice hand in hand with mercy."* 

We have now seen that " all are born under the 
guilt of Adam's sin, and that all sin deserves eternal 
misery"f — that "the law inflicts the penalty of 
death upon every act of disobedience — that all men 
have come under that penalty,"{ and that "all moral 
depravity derived or contracted, is damning in its 
nature"§ — that "there was nothing in all the charac- 
ter and circumstances of the fallen family, except 
their sin and deserved misery, that could claim the 
interposition of God's saving power;" and "that it 
was pure unmerited love that induced God to pro- 
vide salvation for our world. "|| 

If then "man has forfeited good of every kind and 
even life itself by his transgressions,"** it follows that 
Mr. Watson is correct when he says, " God has a 
right to select whom he pleases to enjoy special privi- 
leges" — that "in this there is no unrighteousness. "ff 
And that Dr. Clarke is correct also when he says, he 
"dispenses his benefits, where, when and to whom he 
pleases ; (and) no person can complain of his conduct 
in these respects, because no person deserves any 
good from his hands." J J 

Mr. Wesley says accordingly, "With regard to 
unconditional election I believe that God, before the 
foundation of the world, did unconditionally elect 
certain persons to do certain works, as Paul to preach 
the gospel; that he has unconditionally elected some 
nations to hear the gospel, as England and Scotland 
now, and many others in past ages : that he has un- 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xviii. 

f Doctrinal Tracts, page 246. 

J Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxiii. 

| Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. || Ibid. 

** Theol. Inst. Part II. Chap, xxiii. f f Ibid. Chap. xxvi. 

%X Clarke's Theology, page 76. 



THE DOCTRINE OP ELECTION. 93 

conditionally elected some persons to many peculiar 
advantages, both "with regard to temporal and spirit- 
ual things ; and I do not deny, though I cannot prove 
it so, that he has unconditionally elected some per- 
sons to eternal glory."* 

We have seen already that Mr. Wesley and the 
Methodists of his day "differed in nothing from the 
doctrines of the Church of England, as clearly laid 
down in her Prayers, Articles and Homilies. "f It 
is only necessary therefore to quote a part of Article 
XVII. of that Church to ascertain what were their 
views in reference to the doctrine of election. 

"Predestination to eternal life is the everlasting 
purpose of God, whereby, before the foundations of 
the world were laid, he hath constantly decreed by 
his counsel, secret to us, to deliver from curse and 
damnation, those whom he hath chosen in Christ out 
of mankind, and to bring them by Christ, to everlast- 
ing salvation, as vessels of mercy." 

No Calvinistic writer or formulary ever stated the 
doctrine more distinctly and unequivocally. 

The Rev. R. Watson and the General Conference 
are about as explicit. Speaking of the ninth chapter 
of the Epistle to the Romans they say, "We have in 
it several instances of unconditional election. Such 
was that of the descendants of Isaac to be God's vis- 
ible Church, in preference to those of Ishmael. Such 
was that of Jacob to the exclusion of Esau, which 
election was declared when the children were yet in 
the womb, before they had done good or evil, so that 
the blessing of the special covenant did not descend 
upon the posterity of Jacob because of any righteous- 
ness in their progenitor. In like manner when Al- 
mighty God determined no longer to found his visible 

* Works, Vol. iii. page 280. 

f Watson a Life of Wesley, pages 76, 77. 



94 THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 

Church upon natural descent, from Abraham in the 
line of Isaac and Jacob, nor in any line according to 
the flesh, but to make faith in his Son Jesus Christ 
the gate of admission into this privilege, he acted ac- 
cording to the same sovereign pleasure 

A man of Macedonia appears to Paul in a vision by 
night, and cries, ' Come over into Macedonia and 
help us.' But we have no reason to believe that the 
Macedonians were better than other gentiles, although 
they were elected to the privileges and advantages of 
evangelical ordinances. So in modern times, parts of 
Hindostan have been elected to receive the gospel, 
and yet its inhabitants presented nothing more worthy 
of this election than the people of Thibet or Califor- 
nia, who have not yet been elected."* 

Again they say, " Of a divine election, or choosing 
and separating from others, we have three kinds men- 
tioned in the Scriptures: 

" The first is the election of individuals to perform 
some particular and special service," &c. 

"The second is the election of nations, or bodies of 
people to eminent religious privileges, in order to ac- 
complish by their superior illumination the merciful 
purposes of God, in benefitting other nations or bodies 
of people," &c. 

" The third kind of election is personal election ; or 
the election of individuals to be the children of God 
and the heirs of eternal life."f 

But if they are elected " to be the children of God," 
their election must precede their regeneration, and if 
so, they are not elected conditionally, or because they 
are the children of God. This, it is proper to remark, 
is all for which Calvinists contend. 

Again they say, "The phrases 'eternal election/ 
and 'eternal decree of election,' so often on the lips 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxvi. f Ibid. 



THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 95 

of the Calvinists, can in common sense mean only an 
eternal purpose to elect, or a purpose formed in eter- 
nity to elect or choose out of the world and sanctify 
in time, by the Spirit and blood of Jesus. This is a 
doctrine no one will contend with them."* 

Here then the dispute closes. For if an}' one will 
show the difference between "an eternal purpose to 
choose out of the world and sanctify," and the eter- 
nal choice of those individuals to sanctification, he 
shall be "Magnus Apollo." Arminians without ex- 
ception contend, that election is not unto, but after 
sanctification. Here, however, that point is given 
up and the Calvinistic view admitted by the most pro- 
minent Arminian authorities. Having now shown 
that the Calvinistic doctrine of election of the Pres- 
byterian Church, is as distinctly taught in the Metho- 
dist Church as it is in the Presbyterian Confession of 
Faith, we will proceed to show, 

I. That this doctrine is stamped on the face of na- 
ture. This appears 

1. In the peculiar advantages of country, govern- 
ment, &c, which some enjoy. 

The people of the United States do certainly pos- 
sess a country which in point of excellence has not an 
equal, and a government which in point of wisdom is 
without a parallel. As a people, we enjoy a degree 
of prosperity and happiness the most astonishing. 
But who stretched out these valleys, and reared these 
mountains, and coursed these beautiful rivers ? Who 
gave fertility to our soil, variety and abundance to our 
productions, value to our minerals, health to our climate, 
and happiness to our people, for each of which par- 
ticulars this country is so remarkable? Is the govern- 
ment under which we live, the work of the present 
generation? But above all, who arranged it that this 

* Theological Institutes, Part IT. Chapter xxvi. 



9b THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 

blest land should be the place of our birth? Was it 
not He that "hath, made of one blood all nations of 
men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath 
determined the times before appointed, and the bounds 
of their habitations?"* 

2. In parentage, ancestry, &c. 

That distinguished parentage is a privilege, ne£d 
not be proved. But who is the giver of parents, or 
so arranges the circumstances in which we are born 
that wealth and honour are the birthright of some, 
while poverty and disgrace are the birthright of 
others? Who arranged it that while one is born a 
savage, or a slave, or both united, another is born to 
freedom and civilization ? Who arranged it that 
some are born of parents so pious, and in circum- 
stances so favourable, that everything around them 
tends to fit them for distinction and piety in time, and 
happiness in eternity, while others are born of pa- 
rents so wicked, and in circumstances of such igno- 
rance and wickedness, that the whole tendency of 
their experience is to bring the "iniquities of the 
fathers upon the children?" 

3. Superior health, strength, beauty, &c, are the 
result of the same divine arrangement. 

That health and strength are blessings we cannot 
but value, and beauty a grace we cannot but admire, 
requires no argument. But who so arranged it that 
some from infancy should be so feeble, that no matter 
with what care they live, they eat their bread in sor- 
row, while others have such vigour, that no matter 
how prodigal of health, they scarce know pain or sick- 
ness? Who arranged it that some should be so de- 
formed that life is scarce a blessing, while others are 
so fair, we scarcely think them human? Who arranged 
it that some should be born with all the senses, while 

* Acts xvii. 26. 



THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 97 

others are without sight or hearing? May it not be 
said, as Christ has said, that "neither hath this man 
sinned, nor his parents, that he should be born blind, 
but that the works of God should be manifest in 
him?"* 

4. A similar providential arrangement appears in 
the various degrees of intellect among the human 
family. For while the minds of some are so feeble 
that accountability is doubtful, the minds of others 
are so amazing we almost deify them. And though 
much maybe done to develope what is excellent in all, 
it is just as impossible to put them on an equality as 
it would be to give to iron the lustre of silver, or to 
copper the value of gold. 

5. The same discrimination appears throughout 
living nature. It appears in the different grades of 
animals, from the insect so small as scarcely to be 
visible, to the huge mastodon, under whose majestic 
tread the earth was made to tremble. It is seen in 
the different size, appearance and dispositions of ani- 
mals of the same species, and among the holy beings 
around the throne of God there are cherubim and 
seraphim, angels and archangels. 

Now why was not man endowed with mind and 
glory such as Gabriel hath? But why again, is man 
superior to the brute? Not more certainly is there 
" one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, 
and another glory of the stars, and that one star dif- 
fereth from another star in glory," than that God 
made the difference. 

6. God shows the same distinguishing sovereignty 
in giving to some a longer term of natural life than to 
others. 

" Within a day, a month, or a year after accounta- 
bility commences, some are hurried to their final 

* John iii. 9. 



UO THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 

doom. Others are spared amid the means of grace 
for eighty years, and then brought to a saving know- 
ledge of the truth. One day to some, a few days to 
others, and ten or twenty thousand days to others."* 
II. Having seen what a vast difference there is in na- 
ture, let us see whether there is not a similar differ- 
ence in grace also. This appears 

1. In having provided salvation for some only, of 
the fallen. 

The rebel angels once stood high as Gabriel 
Stands; but, being lifted up with pride, they 
Fell to hopeless depths of woe. Man once in 
Eden dwelt in innocence, and talked 
With Grod. But presuming to be wise above 
Himself, he sinned and fell, and awful 
Was the fall. 

But mark the difference. For fallen man a Saviour 
is provided, and at a cost an angel cannot calculate, 
yet no salvation was ever provided for fallen angels. 
The Son of God took not on him the nature of angels, 
but he took on him the seed of Abraham.f 

" The Saviour did not join, 
Their nature to his own; 
For them he shed no blood divine, 
Nor heaved a single groan." 

"What a world of vain imagination is swept away 
by this single fact, and how it sweeps away the whole 
ground-work of the supposition that God treats all the 
guilty alike. "{ 

2. God exercised a similar sovereignty in making 
the Jews only, for many ages, the repositories of his 
word. 

There were the Egyptians, famed for their wisdom ; 
the Chaldeans and Assyrians, wise, great and pow- 

* Dr. Ruffner f Heb. ii. 16. J Dr. Ruffner. 



THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 99 

erful ; the Persians, who, by their strength and policy 
almost subdued the world. There were the Greeks 
and Romans, the extent of whose dominions, the 
fame of whose power, and the excellence of whose go- 
vernment had no equal in ancient times. Yet God 
passed these by, but "made known his ways unto 
Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel." Psalm 
ciii. 7. 

It was in view of this that Moses said, "The Lord 
hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto him- 
self, above all the nations that are upon the earth;"* 
and that David said, " Thou hast not dealt so with 
any nation ;" and that the Apostle Paul, in answer 
to the interrogatory, "What advantage hath the Jew, 
and what profit is there in circumcision?" said, 
" Much every way, but chiefly because that unto them 
were committed the oracles of God." Rom. iii. 1, 2. 
Now these advantages were not conferred on the 
Jews because they were distinguished as a nation. 
" The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose 
you because ye were more in number than any 
people, for ye were the fewest of all people, "f 
Neither was it on account of their greater righteous- 
ness. "Understand, therefore, that the Lord thy 
God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for 
thy righteousness, for thou art a stiff-necked people."J 

III. The same distinguishing sovereignty is asserted 
again and again in the New Testament. 

1. In the bestowment of ten>poral favours. 

Thus, our Saviour, preaching in the synagogue of 
Nazareth, said, "I tell you of a truth, many widows 
were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heavens 
were shut up, three years and six months, when 
great famine was throughout all the land, but unto 
none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a 

* Deut. xiv. 2. f Deut. vii. 7. J Dcut. is. 6. 



100 THE DOCTRINE OE ELECTION. 

city of Sidon, to a woman that was a widow. And 
many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the 
prophet, and none of them was cleansed, but Naaman 
the Syrian."* 

Here we see the "widows of Israel" neglected, 
while the wants of one of the doomed Canaanites 
were supplied ; and the lepers of Israel passed by, 
while "Naaman the Syrian was cleansed." It is 
worthy of remark also, that when the doctrine under 
discussion was preached by our Saviour himself, it 
awakened as decided opposition as at any time since. 
For it is immediately added, "And all they of the 
synagogue when they heard these things, were filled 
with wrath, and rose up and thrust him out of the 
city, and led him to the brow of the hill whereon 
their city was built, that they might cast him down 
headlong." It is a great mistake, therefore, in any 
one to date Arminianism back no farther than to 
James Arminius. 

2. In the spread of the gospel among different 
nations. 

This is admitted, as we have seen. But why was 
not the gospel sent to all, as much as to those to 
whom it has been sent? "Were we better than 
they? No, in no wise, for we are all under sin." 
Rom. iii. 9. 

3. In the bestowment of converting grace. 

Passing by millions of infants, God sanctified Jere- 
miah and John the Baptist from the womb.f Passing 
by millions of other children equally as good by na- 
ture, he regenerated Samuel and Timothy, probably 
in childhood. J Passing by a whole company of fe- 
males, he so " opened the heart of Lydia that she 
attended to the things that were spoken of Paul."§ 

* Luke iv. 25 — 27. f Jeremiah i. 5; Luke i. 15. 

j 1 Sam. i. 28; ii. 21, 26. § Acts xvi. 14. 



THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 101 

Passing by a whole band of persecutors, he made Saul 
of Tarsus, their infuriated leader, a " vessel of 
mercy."* 

In reference to this last, the Rev. 11. Watson says, 
" Can a man be conceived to be further from Chris- 
tianity than Saul, the moment prior to his reception 
of it? Then was he nearest the very gate of hell, 
when just about to enter the gate of the kingdom of 
heaven. What a state is that which the historian 
describes ! ' Then Saul, breathing out threatenings 
and slaughter.' His heart was hot within him — it 
burned with rancour and cruelty — his breath was 
flame — imprecations and threats were vomited from 
that heart through that mouth — the volcano of his 
breast heaved and swelled and poured its streams of 
fire on every side. A hotter brand surely was never 
quenched in the blood of the Saviour. . . . All the 
softer feelings, like doves in a tempest, scared and 
scattered by the rage and uproar of his malignant 
passions, shrank into the recesses of his soul, nor 
dared to interpose and look out. Only a miracle 
could reclaim such a man. That such a man was con- 
verted is, itself, proof of a miracle. "f 

And so in thousands of cases where the more guilty 
are taken, and the less guilty are left. " Here for 
example, is a profligate wretch, so long accustomed to 
sin, that his heart is hard, like the nether millstone. 
His conscience is so seared, that his depravity fer- 
ments within him. For some reason, he scarce knows 
what, he has come to the house of God, perhaps to 
mock at sacred things. In a little while his attention 
becomes fixed on the minister. Next, the tears begin 
to flow. But why is this ? Nothing very special has 
been said. Those around him are unmoved. The 
congregation is dismissed, and the people retire as 

* Acts ix. f Sermon on the Conversion of Saul. 



102 THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 

usual, but he goes away with his head hanging down. 
His companions notice this, and inquire the cause. 
He, in reply, tries to drive away his feelings; but 
the very effort seems to cause the truth to wound 
more deeply, like a barbed arrow in a flying deer. 
His guilt at length becomes so great a burden that 
he cries to God for mercy, seeks what he lately 
shunned, and finds that peace which is essential to 
the new-born soul."* This, we admit, is not an ordi- 
nary case, for it is not usual for the more thoughtless 
to be taken, while the more thoughtful are left; but 
they sometimes are, and are converted in a moment. 
Others are more gradually drawn by a more^ gentle 
influence. Others resist their impressions, but in vain. 
Others get rid of them for a time, but again they re- 
turn, until "He who commanded the light to shine out 
of darkness, shines into their hearts to give them the 
light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 
Some, on the other hand, "although they may be 
called by the ministry of the word, and may have 
some common operations of the Spirit, yet they never 
truly come to Christ."f Others are powerfully awak- 
ened, but soon lose their impressions for ever. Now 
"all this worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, 
dividing to every man severally as he will. "J 

4. This accords with the experience of the people 
of God. If we ask pious people of any denomina- 
tion of Christians to tell their experience, they will 
give substantially the same account. One will say, 
" I led a very thoughtless life, and though often urged 
to attend to the subject of religion, I made excuse, 
until I was led to hear a sermon I shall never forget. 
The Lord sent it home to my heart with such power, 
that I could find no peace until I found it in believing." 

* Dr. Ruffner. f Confession of Faith, Chap. X. Sec iv. 

% Cor. xii. 11. 



THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 103 

Another will say, " I was living without God, my 
heart being set supremely on the world, and such I 
am sure I should have remained to this day, but for 
the interposition of redeeming mercy and sovereign 
grace. God called me by the voice of affliction, and 
though at first I heeded not, he still followed me with 
one affliction after another, until I was constrained to 
render to him my, whole heart." 

A third will say, " There is nothing very special in 
my case. I led a very careless life until I was brought 
to reflect on how I had neglected my soul, and while 
thus reflecting, I secretly resolved to seek salvation 
by the use of the appointed means. The more I read 
and heard and prayed, the more I became impressed 
with my sinfulness and danger, and the importance of 
eternal things, until through great mercy I was led 
to cast myself entirely on the helpless sinner's 
friend."* 

"Ho rescued me from sin and hell, 

And by his power my foes controlled; 
He saw me wandering far from God, 
And brought me to his chosen fold." 

"You have objections to the doctrine of election," 
said the Rev. John Newton, writing to a friend ; "you 
will admit, however, that the Scriptures do speak of 
it, especially Paul, and that, too, in terms very strong 
and expressive. I have met with some sincere people 
who told me they could not hear to read the eighth 
and ninth chapters of his Epistle to the Romans, but 
always passed them over. So that their aversion to 
the doctrine prejudiced them against the Scriptures 
also. But why so, unless because the dreaded doctrine 
is maintained there too plainly to be evaded ?f You 

* These cases, with slight changes, are taken from Fairchild's 
"Great Supper." 
f Whitefield, writing to Mr. Wesley, says, "Honoured sir, how 



104 THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 

will say, however, that some writers and teachers at- 
tempt to put an easier sense upon the Apostle's words. 
Let us judge then, as I lately proposed, from experi- 
ence. Admitting what I am sure you will admit, the 
total depravity of human nature, how are we to ac- 
count for the conversion of a soul to God unless we 
admit an election of grace? The work must begin 
somewhere. Either the sinner first seeks the Lord, 
or the Lord first seeks the sinner. If the God of this 
world has blinded our eyes, and maintains possession 
of our hearts — if the carnal mind, so far from being 
disposed to seek God, is enmity against him, God may 
seek the sinn-er, but the unawakened sinner never 
seeks God. Let me appeal to yourself. I think you 
know yourself too well to * say you either sought or 
loved the Lord first. Perhaps you are conscious that 
for a season, and so far as in you lay, you even resisted 
his call, and must have perished if he had not made 
you willing in the day of his power, and saved you 
from yourself. In your own case, therefore, you ac- 
knowledge he began with you, and it must be so with 
all who are saved, if the whole race are by nature at 
enmity with God. Then further, there must be an 
election unless all are called. But we are assured 
that the broad road which is thronged with the 
greatest multitudes leads to destruction. Were not 
you and I in that road ? Were we better than those 
who continue in it still? What but grace made us to 
differ from our former selves ? What but grace made 

could it enter into your heart to choose a text to disprove the doc- 
trine of election out of the eighth of Romans ; where this doctrine 
is so plainly asserted, that once talking with a Quaker on this sub- 
ject, he had no other way of evading the force of the Apostle's as- 
sertion than by saying, 'I believe Paul was in the wrong.' And 
another friend lately, who was once highly prejudiced against elec- 
tion, ingenuously confessed he used to think St. Paul himself was 
mistaken, or that he was not truly translated." Gillies' Life of 
Whitefield, page 629. 



THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 105 

us to differ from those who are now as we once were? 
Then this grace by the very terms must be distin- 
guishing, or in other words, electing grace. And to 
suppose that God should make his choice at the time 
of our calling, is not only unscriptural, but contrary 
to the dictates of reason, and the ideas we have of the 
divine perfections." 

This brings us to show 

IV. That the teaching of Messrs. Wesley, Watson 
and the General Conference, as already given, is 
scriptural also. This appears from the fact, that in 
the Scriptures the people of God are represented as 
chosen to salvation and eternal life; — to know the will 
of God : — to holiness — to obedience — to faith, and to be 
conformed to the image of Christ. 

Thus Paul, addressing the Thessalonians, says, 
"We are bound to give thanks always to God for you, 
brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from 
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sancti- 
fication of the Spirit and belief of the truth, where- 
unto he hath called you by our gospel, to the obtaining 
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."* 

The Rev. R. Watson, commenting on this passage, 
says, "The beginning here refers to the very first 
reception of the gospel in Thessalonica," and, he 
argues that these Thessalonians were then converted, 
and, then chosen, &c.f But, if this be so, then it 
follows that they were all converted about the same 
time, which is very improbable. Again, the inter- 
pretation of Mr. Watson is in conflict with Rev. xvii. 
8 : " They that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose 
names were not written in the book of life from the 
foundation of the world." This teaches, 



*2 These, ii. 13, 14. 

f Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxv. 



106 THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 

life." 2. That they were written there from the 
foundation of the world. Evidently then, when Paul 
said to the Thessalonian Christians, " God hath from 
the beginning chosen you to salvation," he refers to 
the same period to which the Second Person of the 
Trinity refers when he says, " The Lord possessed me 
in the beginning of his way;"* and to which the 
Apostle John refers when speaking of Christ, he says, 
"In the beginning was the word, and the word was 
with God, and the word was God. The same was in 
the beginning with God."f The passage thus ex- 
plained, teaches, 1. That the people of God are 
chosen. There is election. 2. That they were " chosen 
from the beginning." There is the eternity of their 
election. 3. That they were " chosen to salvation." 
There is the end of their election. 4. "Through 
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." 
There is the holiness and faith that follow election. 
5. "Whereunto he hath called you by our gospel." 
There is the appointed means to bring the people of 
God to the salvation to which they have been 
" chosen." 

Again, Luke speaking of the success that followed 
the ministry of Paul at Corinth, says, "As many as 
were ordained to eternal life believed." Acts xiii. 48. 

This teaches, 1. That some are "ordained to eternal 
life." There is an election of grace. 2. That their 
"ordination to eternal life" preceded their faith, and 
so was not conditional; that is, on account of it. 
3. That all who are ordained to eternal life believe. 
Again, Ananias, addressing the awakened Saul, 
says, "The God of our fathers hath chosen thee that 
thou shouldst know his will," &c. Acts xxii. 14. 

This teaches that the people of God are "chosen to 
know his will." Of course then they must have been 

* Proverbs viii. 22. f John i. 1—3. 



THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 107 

chosen before they do know his will. Then it follows 
that their election is before their conversion, and so 
not conditional, or on account of it. 

Again, Eph. i. 4, 5 — "According as he has chosen 
us in him before the foundation of the world, that we 
should be holy, and without blame before him in love, 
having predestinated us unto the adoption of children 
unto himself by Jesus Christ, according to the good 
pleasure of his will." 

If then the people of God were "chosen before the 
foundation of the world that they should be holy," 
their election is before their holiness, and so, is not 
conditional, or, on account of their holiness. 

Again, if they are "predestinated to the adoption 
of children," they must have been so predestinated 
before they are children, so that they could not have 
been "predestinated to the adoption of children," be- 
cause they were children. 

Again, 1 Peter i. 1, 2 — "Peter, an apostle of Jesus 
Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, 
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect ac- 
cording to the fore-knowledge of God the Father, 
through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience, 
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus." 

If then the people of God are "elected unto obedi- 
ence," their election must be before their obedience, 
and consequently before their sanctification also, be- 
cause no sanctified person can be a disobedient 
person. 

Again, Rom. viii. 29 — "For whom he did fore- 
know he also did predestinate to be conformed to the 
image of his Son." If then, some have been predesti- 
nated to that blessing, they must have been so pre- 
destinated before they obtain it. 

We have now seen that the people of God were 
eternally "chosen to salvation," "to know his will," 
"that they should be holy," "unto obedience" — "or- 



108 THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 

dained to eternal life" — " predestinated unto the 
adoption of children" — " to be conformed to the image 
of Christ," and consequently, to faith, for no one can 
possess these graces without faith. If then they were 
chosen to these graces, the choice could not have been 
made because they were foreseen to possess them. 
Accordingly, Paul tells us that " when Rebecca had 
conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, (for the 
children being not yet born, neither having done any 
good or evil, that the purpose of God according to 
election might stand, not of works, but of him that 
calleth,) it was said unto her, The elder shall serve 
the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved but 
Esau have I hated." Rom. ix. 11. 

From this we learn, 1. That certain special favours 
were intended for Jacob such as were not intended 
for Esau. 

2. That these favours were not bestowed on Jacob 
conditionally, that is, on account of superior merit, 
for he was not yet born, neither had he done either 
good or evil. But 

3. " That the purpose of God, according to election 
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth." 
We find, accordingly, that piety commenced with 
Jacob, nor has it ever entirely left his posterity. 
.From him were descended most of the prophets, all of 
the Apostles, and our Saviour himself. To his pos- 
terity were committed the "Oracles of God," and 
through them they have been handed down to us. 
And though " blindness in part hath happened unto 
Israel until the fulness of the gentiles be come in, all 
Israel shall be saved, as it is written, There shall come 
forth of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn away un- 
godliness from Jacob." Rom. ix. 10, 11. 

With Esau, on the contrary, extreme wickedness 
commenced, and extreme wickedness was a prominent 
characteristic of his posterity. And though, as a na- 



THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 109 

tion, they became great and powerful, ages long since 
they have been blotted out from under heaven. How- 
wonderful are the ways of Providence, and how forci- 
ble is the language of the Scriptures, " By grace are ye 
saved, through faith ; and that not of yourselves, it is 
the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should 
boast: for we are his workmanship, created anew in 
Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before 
ordained that we should walk in them." " Who hath 
saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not accord- 
ing to our works, but according to his own purpose 
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before 
the world began."* 

We have now seen that the Calvinistic doctrine of 
personal unconditional election, as taught by Mr. 
Wesley and the Methodists of his day, and as since 
taught by Mr. Watson and the General Conference, 
is sustained by reason, by fact, by the Presbyterian 
Confession of Faith, and the Bible. But as the Me- 
thodist Episcopal Church maintains two sides at least 
of every question in dispute between them and Cal- 
vinists, we will show next vvhat they teach on this 
subject as Arminians. 

As Calvinists, they teach, as we have seen, that 
election is eternal, personal, and unconditional. But 
as Arminians, they teach, on the contrary, that it is 
an election in time, of character, and conditional. 
Thus Mr. Wesley and the General Conference say, 
"Faith in Christ producing obedience to him, is a 
cause, without which God elects none unto glory. "f 
Mr. Watson and the General Conference say, " Per- 
sonal election is conditional. It rests, as we have 
seen, upon personal repentance and justifying faith. "J 
" To choose men to salvation considered as believers, 

*Eph. ii. 8, 0, 10; 2 Tim. i. 9. 

f Doctrinal Tracts, page 140. 

% Theological Institutes, Part II. Chapter xxvi. 

10 



110 THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 

gives a reason for election which not only manifests 
the wisdom of God, but has the advantage of being 
entirely consistent with his own published and express 
decree: 'He that believeth shall be saved,*and he 

that believeth not shall be damned.' The 

choice not being of certain men as such, but of all 
persons believing."* 

Dr. Fisk and the General Conference say, " God 
did decree from the beginning, to elect, or choose in 
Christ, all that should believe, to salvation. "f "We 
do not say we believe because we are elected, but we 
are elected because we believe. "J "Ours is an elec- 
tion of character, and so far as it relates to indi- 
viduals, it relates to them only as they are foreseen 
to possess that character."§ 

To this we reply, that these divines completely 
refute themselves by teaching that faith and repent- 
ance are the gifts of God. Thus, Mr. Watson and 
the General Conference, after describing saving re- 
pentance, say, " Such is the corrupt state of man 
that he is incapable of repentance of this kind. . . . 
To suppose man to be capable of a repentance which 
is the result of a genuine principle, is to assume 
human nature to be what it is not. For if man be 
totally corrupt, the only principles from which that 
repentance and correction of manners which are 
supposed in the argument can flow, do not exist in 
his nature. || 

M r. Wesley says, " Repentance flows from love to 
God, and hatred to sin," .... and he asks, "Is it 
possible for a heart totally depraved, dead in tres- 
passes and sins , to exercise such repentance?"^ 

*■ Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxvi. 
f Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. 
J Christian Advocate and Journal, Feb. 19th, 1852. 
| Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. 
|| Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xix. 
^[ Sermon on the New Birth. 



THE DOCTRINE 01' ELECTION. Ill 

Here then, we are distinctly taught that man is so 
corrupt as to be incapable of evangelical or saving 
repentance — that such repentance, being the result of 
a genuine principle which does not exist in human 
nature, is therefore the gift of God. This, then, is 
one of the conditions of election, according to Ar- 
minians; take the other. 

"Boasting of our faith," say Mr. Watson and 
the General Conference, "is cut off by the considera- 
tion that it is the gift of God."* 

Mr. Wesley says, " Of yourselves cometh neither 
your faith nor your salvation. It is the gift of 
God — the free undeserved gift — the faith through 
which ye are saved. "f Again, he says, " The true 
living Christian faith, which whosoever hath is born 
of God, is not only an assent, or act of the under- 
standing, but a disposition which God hath wrought 
in his heart. "J Again he asks, " Why have not all 
men this faith?" and answers, "Because no man is 
able to work it in himself. It is the work of Omnipo- 
tence — it requires no less power thus to quicken a 
dead soul than to raise a dead body that lies in the 
grave — it is a new creation, and none can create a 
soul anew but He who at first created the heavens 
and the earth, "§ &c. 

If then, " Election is an election of character, and 
so far as it relates to individuals, relates to them 
only as they are seen to possess that character" — 
" conditional, resting upon personal repentance and 
justifying faith," and these graces which constitute 
the character, are themselves the gifts of God ; then, 
unless he gives them to all, it follows that he must 
have selected those to whom he gives them. This, 



* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxiii. 
f Sermo i on Salvation by Faith. 
;';; S irmon on The .Mirks of the New Birth. 
\ Soathey's Life of Wesley, Vol. II. page 82. 



112 THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 

however, is the personal unconditional election of the 
Calvinists : so that, although these divines shift 
their ground, they do not escape the difficulty. But, 
says Mr. Wesley and the General Conference, 
" Believing is the gift of the God of grace, as breath- 
ing, moving, and eating are the gifts of the God of 
nature. He gives me lungs and air, that I may 
breathe; he gives me life and muscles, that I may 
move; he bestows upon me food and a mouth, that I 
may eat; and when I have no stomach, he gives me 
common sense to see I must die, or force myself to 
take some nourishment or some medicine; but he 
neither breathes, moves, nor eats for me; nay, when 
I think proper I can accelerate my breathing, mo- 
tion, and eating; and if I please I may even fast, 
lie down, or hang myself, and by that means put an 
end to my eating, moving, and breathing." 

"Again, faith is the gift of God to believers as 
sight is to you. The parent of good freely gives you 
the light of the sun, and organs proper to receive it. 
He places you in a world, where the light visits you 
daily ; he apprizes you that sight is conducive to 
your safety, pleasure, and profit; and everything 
around you bids you use your eyes and see : never- 
theless, you may not only drop your curtains, and 
extinguish your candle, but close your eyes also. 
This is exactly the case with regard to faith."* But 
if this be so, then it follows that unbelief, atheism, 
blasphemy, theft, lying, Sabbath-breaking, adultery, 
murder, &c, are in the same sense the gifts of God, 
as faith and repentance are, since the powers by 
which these things are done, are as much the gifts 
of God, as those by which, according to Arminians, a 
man repents and believes. 

This, indeed, is very little like Mr. Wesley, who, 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 235, 236. 



THE D0CTR1NK OF ELECTION. 113 

when speaking of a sinner "made sensible of his lost 
estate," said, " He knows himself to be dead while 
he liveth, dead to God, having no more power to 
perform the actions of a living Christian, than 
a dead body to perform the functions of a living 
man."* Very little like Mr. Wesley, when he asks, 
" Can you give yourself this faith ? Is it in your power 
to see, or hear, or taste, or feel God? — to raise in 
yourself any perception of God, or of an invisible 
world? — to open up an intercourse between yourself 
and the world of spirits ? — to discern either them, or 
him that created them? — to burst the veil that is on 
your heart, and let in the light of eternity? You 
know it is not. You not only do not, but cannot (by 
your own strength) thus believe. The more you 
labour so to do, the more you will be convinced it is 
the gift of God .... which he bestows .... on 
those who, till that hour, were fit only for everlasting 
destruction. "f And very little like Mr. Watson and 
the General Conference, when they say, " Men hav- 
ing become totally corrupt, are not capable of obedi- 
ence in future."J 

But, says Mr. Watson, "What true personal elec- 
tion is, we shall find explained in two clear passages 
of Scripture. It is explained negatively by our Lord, 
when he says to his disciples, " I have chosen you 
out of the world." It is explained positively by St. 
Peter when he addresses his first epistle to the " elect 
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, 
through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience, 
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus." 

"To be elected therefore, is to be separated from 
' the world,' and to be sanctified by the Spirit, and 



* Sermon on the Way of Salvation. 

f Southey's Life of Wesley, Vol. II. page 82. 

X Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xiiii. 



114 THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 

by the blood of Christ. It follows then, that elec- 
tion is not only an act of God, done in time, but also 
that it is subsequent to the administration of the 
means of salvation. The ' calling' goes before the 
'election;' the publication of the doctrine of 'the 
Spirit,' and the atonement, called by Peter, the 
' sprinkling of the blood of Christ,' before that 'sanc- 
tification,' through which they become the ' elect' of 
God."* 

To this we reply; if the elect are sanctified before 
they are elected, then it follows, that they must obey 
before they are elected, for no sanctified adult can be 
disobedient. But according to the Scriptures, it is 
to these graces they are elected. While, however, 
Paul says, "chosen that we should be holy;"f and 
Peter says, "elect unto obedience,"! Mr. Watson 
says, Holy, that we may be chosen, and obedient, 
that we may be elected. And while David says, 
"Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest 
to approach unto thee,"§ Mr. Watson would say, 
Blessed is the man who approaches unto thee, that he 
may be chosen. And when Ananias said to Paul, 
"The God of our Fathers hath chosen thee, that thou 
shouldst know his will,"|| Mr. Watson would have 
said, The God of our Fathers will choose thee after 
thou hast known his will. And when Paul says, 
" According as he hath chosen us in him before the 
foundation of the world, that we should be holy,"** 
Mr. Watson says, "An act of God done in time, sub- 
sequent to the administration of the means of salva- 
tion." 

While therefore, according to Arminians, election 
takes place after the subjects of it are "holy"— after 
they believe — after they "know the will of God" — 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxvi. f Eph. i. 4. 

% 1 Peter i. 2. § Psalm lxv. 4. || Acts xxii. 14. ** Eph. i. 4. 



THE ATONEMENT. 115 

after "obedience" — after they "approach unto God" 
— after they are "adopted as children" — after they 
are " conformed to the image of Christ," &c, Calvin- 
istic election and the election of the Bible is "to holi- 
ness," to faith, "to approach unto God," "to know 
his -will," "to obedience" "unto the adoption of 
children," &c. 

Let us now hear Paul: "God who is rich in mercy, 
for his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when 
we were dead in sin, hath quickened us together with 
Christ, (by grace are ye saved) and hath raised us up, 
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ 
Jesus, that in the ages to come, he might show the ex- 
ceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward 
us through Jesus Christ,"* "having predestinated us 
unto the adoption of children, according to the good 
pleasure of his will."t 



CHAPTER X 



THE ATONEMENT. 



The nature and extent of the Atonement are neces- 
sarily involved in a discussion of the doctrine of 
election. This is seen and felt by Arminians, and 
hence there is no point in the whole Calvinistic con- 
troversy on which they lay so much stress. But 
notwithstanding they have here laid out all their 
strength, if we are not greatly mistaken, we shall find 
their inconsistency by no means trifling. 

* Eph. ii. 4—7. f Ibid. i. 5. 



116 THE ATONEMENT. 

In the Articles of Religion and Discipline of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, we have the following 
definition of the Atonement, viz: 

"The offering of Christ once made, is a perfect 
redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction for all the 
sins of the whole world, both original and actual, and 
there is none other satisfaction for sin, but that 
alone."* 

Is this definition correct? If it is, why should any 
of the human family be finally lost? Will any of 
those who are "bold to affirm that justice and equity 
in God are what they are taken to be among reason- 
able men,"*f te ^ us now "** ^ s possible to reconcile it 
to any notion of just government that has ever ob-. 
tained"{ to send men to hell, when "for all their sins, 
both original and actual, a perfect redemption, propi- 
tiation, and satisfaction has been made?" "The bare 
statement of such an idea is enough to chill one's 
blood."§ 

Now that such a consequence does follow the doc- 
trine we have just stated, is admitted. Thus says the 
Rev. N. L. Bangs, " The law of God being completely 
satisfied by the obedience of Christ unto death, it can 
have no just demand upon those for whom satisfaction 
was made. And if the law has no demand, there can 
be no condemnation. "|| 

But, says the Rev. R. Watson, "As to a future 
state, eternal life is promised to all men believing in 
Christ, which reverses the sentence of eternal death. . . 
Should this be rejected, he (the sinner) stands liable 
to the whole penalty, to the punishment of loss, as to 
the natural consequences of his corrupted nature, 
which renders him unfit for heaven; to the punishment 
of even pain for the original offence . . . and to the 

* Article XX. f Theol. Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxvi. 

% Ibid. | Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. 

|| Reformer Reformed, page 186. 



THE ATONEMENT. 117 

penalty of his own actual transgressions, aggravated 
by his having made light of the gospel."* 

Ah, indeed! and all this, when "for all his sins 
both original and actual, a perfect redemption, pro- 
pitiation and satisfaction" has been made? Is not the 
sin of unbelief included among "all the sins of the 
whole world?" If it is, then, according to Arminians, 
"a perfect satisfaction" has been made for it, and it 
can make no manner of difference to a sinner whether 
he believes or not. If it is not so included, then 
" the offering of Christ once made, is (not) a perfect 
redemption, propitiation and satisfaction for all the 
sins of the whole world." 

Whenever Mohammed was charged with having 
violated a precept of the Koran, he said the angel 
Gabriel had revealed a dispensation to cover the case. 
Now, although no such revelations are claimed by Ar- 
minians, yet, when one doctrine brings them into a 
difficulty, without abandoning it, they do invent an- 
other to bring them out. Accordingly, in the case 
before us, they shift their ground and tell us, that 
"To die for us, signifies, to die in the place and 
stead of man, as a sacrificial oblation, by which, satis- 
faction is made for the sins of the individual, so that 
they become remissible upon the terms of the evan- 
gelical covenant. When, therefore, it is said, that 
Christ, 'by the grace of God tasted death for every 
man,' and that he is the 'propitiation for our sins, and 
not for ours only, but also for. the sins of the whole 
world,' it can only, we think, be fairly concluded 
from such declarations, and from many other familiar 
texts, in wilier! the same phraseology is employed, 
that, by the death of Christ-, the sins of every man 
are rendered remissible, and that salvation is conse- 
quently attainable by every man."f 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xviii. 
f Ibid. Chap. xxy. 



118 THE ATONEMENT. 

Mr. Wesley says, "For the sake of his well-be- 
loved Son, of what he hath done and suffered for us, 
God now vouchsafes on one only condition (which he 
himself enables us to perform,) both to remit the pun- 
ishment due to our sins, to reinstate us in his favour, 
and to restore our dead souls to spiritual life, as an 
earnest of life eternal."* 

Before, "the offering of Christ was a perfect re- 
demption, propitiation, and satisfaction for all the sins 
of the whole world," but now it is "a sacrificial obla- 
tion, by which satisfaction is made for the sins of the 
individual, so that they become remissible" only, and 
"salvation is consequently, attainable by every one," 
so that this "perfect satisfaction for all sin," is con- 
ditional ; that is, " poised on the possibility of being 
or not being, (it) being left to the will of intelligent 
beings to turn the scale."f 

We have seen already, that omniscience means "a 
power to know, and that repentance and faith mean a 
power to repent and believe." We now see that the 
"perfect satisfaction for all the sins of the whole 
world," means nothing more than that the sins of 
every man are rendered remissible on the terms of the 
evangelical covenant, and that it is for man to say 
whether the death of Christ shall be an atonement for 
sin or not. So then, after ail the clamour about a 
limited atonement, Arminians themselves limit it to 
those that are saved. 

What then, it may be asked, is the true doctrine on 
this subject? To this we reply, there is a sense in 
which Christ tasted death for every man. And 

1. "He died for all," in such a sense, that "there 
will be a resurrection both of the just and of the un- 
just."! "For as in Adam all die, even so, in Christ 
shall all be made alive." 1 Cor. xv. 22. 

* Sermon on Justification by Faith. 

f Dr. A. Clarke's Commentary on Acts ii. J Acts xxiv. 15. 



THE ATONEMENT. 119 

2. That the whole world is so benefitted by his 
death that it can be said of his disciples, "Ye are the 
salt of the earth, ye are the light of the world."* 

3. That "he is the propitiation for the sins of the 
whole world," in such a sense, that in due time " all 
nations shall serve him,"f and "all shall know him 
from the least to the greatest,''^ "for the earth shall 
be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters 
cover the sea."§ 

4. That as the "ground was cursed for man's 
sake," Gen. iii. 17, and consequently every creature 
that dwells thereon, so that "the whole creation 
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now," 
Rom. viii. 22; yet such is the extent and efficacy of 
the atonement, that "the creature itself also shall be 
delivered from the bondage of corruption into the 
glorious liberty of the children of God." Rom. viii. 21. 

5. That he "gave himself a ransom for all," and 
"is the Saviour of all men" in such a sense, that 
the provisions of the gospel are amply sufficient for 
all, and the " gospel, in his name, is to be preached to 
all." And though we pretend not to explain every 
difficulty in the Bible, we go as far as the farthest in 
the offer to all, of a full and free salvation, and in 
pressing its claims with the energies of dying men, and 
in proclaiming, "Whosoever will, let him come and 
partake of the waters of life freely;" and in assuring 
them that if they "come to Christ, he will in no wise 
cast them out;" yet believing that Christ does nothing 
but from design, we do not believe that he died for 
those who will be finally lost, in the same sense, and 
with the same intention, that he died for those who 
will be finally saved. The following is taken from a 
letter from the Rev. Dr. Miller, of Princeton Theolo- 

* Matt. v. 13, 14. f Psalm lxxii. 11. 

X Heb. viii. 11. g Isaiah xi. 9. 



120 THE ATONEMENT. 

gical Seminary, to a minister in New England, dated 
February 9, 1836. 

" So far as I understand the prevailing belief of 
the doctrine of atonement in our Church, it is the fol- 
lowing: That Christ obeyed, suffered, and laid down 
his life by covenant; that what he did was strictly 
vicarious; i. e. he acted as the substitute of his peo- 
ple; that he died in a special sense for the elect; but 
that his obedience and sufferings were so perfectly 
peculiar and unique in their nature, that it would 
have been necessary they should be just what they 
were if the salvation of only one soul had been in- 
tended; and that nothing more would have been 
necessary, if countless millions of those who perish 
had been included in the purpose of salvation : That 
of course there is no scantiness in the provision of 
mercy: but that an ample foundation is laid for a sin- 
cere offer of salvation to all who hear the gospel. 
Unless I am deceived, this is substantially the view 
taken by ninety-nine out of every hundred of the Old- 
school ministers of our Church." 

To this we will add a few thoughts, in part from an 
excellent little volume by the Rev. N. L. Rice, D. D., 
in part from the "Great Supper," by Dr. Fairchild, 
and in part of our own. 

1. As Christ was omniscient, he must have known 
who would believe and be saved, and who would re- 
main in unbelief and be lost. No being, possessed of 
even a moderate share of wisdom, will undertake a 
work, and especially an expensive one, without a rea- 
sonable prospect of success. Accordingly, a man 
always exposes himself to the charge of folly, who 
begins but is not able to finish. To say, therefore, 
that the Lord Jesus undertook a work in which he 
failed, is to impeach his wisdom. 

2. When men in business have brought ruin upon 
themselves by rash speculations, they are free to con- 



THE ATONEMENT. 121 

fess, that they would liavc pursued a different course 
if they could have foreseen the results. To assert 
then, that the Lord Jesus undertook that in which he 
failed, is to say, " he did not see the end from the 
beginning." 

3. If he died with the intention of saving all, and 
all are not saved, it cannot be said, " He hath done 
whatsoever he pleased."* 

4. " If he intended to save all, and all are not 
saved, he cannot be said to have Almighty power. 
The only reason why any being fails to accomplish 
his designs, is, that he has not the requisite ability. 
And hence, to affirm that the Redeemer has been un- 
successful in his attempts to save sinners, is to deny 
the infinite efficacy of his grace." 

5. If he intended to save any who are not finally 
saved, then it follows that the angel was mistaken 
that said, " He shall save his people from their sins."f 
And David, when he said, "A seed shall serve him; 
it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation."! 
And Isaiah, when he said, "He shall see his seed, he 
shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord 
shall prosper in his hands. He shall see of the tra- 
vail of his soul and shall be satisfied."! 

We therefore deny that he died for those who are 
finally lost, in the same sense, and with the same in- 
tention that he died for those who are finally saved, 
and for proof we appeal to the word of God. 

In John vi. 37 — 39, our Saviour speaks of "all 
that the Father giveth him," and says, " This is the 
Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which 
he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should 
raise it up at the last day." 

Speaking of them again, he says, " My Father, 

* Psalm cxv. 3. f Matt. i. 21. J Psalm xxii. 30. 

\ Isaiah liii. 10, 11. 

11 



122 THE ATONEMENT. 

which gave them me, is greater than all, and none 
is able to pluck them out of my Father's hands."* 

In Rev. xvii. 8, the angel that appeared to the 
Apostle John when in exile said, "They that dwell 
on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not 
written in the book of life from the foundation of the 
world." In Rev. xiii. 8, this is called "the book 
of life of the Lamb."f 

From these passages we learn — 1. That some were 
given to Christ. 2. That "before they were born, 
or had done any good or evil, that the purpose of 
God, according to election might stand, not of works, 
but of him that calleth," (Rom. ix. 11,) their "names 
were written in the book of life, of the Lamb." This 
leads us to remark — -3. That for those who were given 
to Christ, he died intentionally to save them. They 
are called 

1. His sheep. "I am the good shepherd; the 
good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." " I lay 
down my life for the sheep. "J 

Here it will be observed that he does not say "Hay 
down my life for" all mankind, but "for the sheep" 
—"for them which thou hast given me,"§ "whose 
names were written in the (Lamb's) book of life from 
the foundation of the world." And, as if to prevent 
the possibility of its being said that he referred to 
those who were then his disciples, he added, "And 
other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also 
must I bring, and they shall hear my voice, and 
there shall be one fold, and one shepherd."** 



* John x. 29. 

-j- Rev. E,. Watson, personating the believer, says, "My name is 
not in the book of life till my guilt is cancelled and my person 
adopted." — Sermon on the Inheritance of the Saints. Here Mr. 
Watson opposes his opinion to the statement of an angel. 

t John x. 11, 15. I John xvii. 9. ** John x. 16. 



THE ATONEMENT. 123 

2. They are called his seed.* " A seed shall serve 
him ; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a genera- 
tion, "f " When thou shalt make his soul an offering 
for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his 
days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in 
his hands." 

3. They are called his people. Mat. i. 21, " Thou 
shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people 
from their sins." Isaiah liii. 8, "For the trans- 
gression of my people was he stricken." Titus ii. 13, 
14, " Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious 
appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus 
Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem 
us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a pecu- 
liar people, zealous of good works." Rev. v. 9, "And 
they (those around the throne) sung a new song, say- 
ing, Thou art worthy .... for thou wast slain, and 
hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every 
kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." Rev. 
xiv. 2 — 4, " And I heard a voice of harpers, harping 
with harps, and they sung as it were a new song 

before the throne These are they which 

follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth. These were 
redeemed from among men," &c. 

It was then, especially for " the sheep," his 
"seed," his "people," that Christ was "stricken." 
These he " redeemed from among men to God by his 
blood, out of every kindred and tongue, and people, 
and nation." These " he redeems from all iniquity, 
purifies them unto himself a peculiar people," and 
" saves them from their sins." 

4. They are called his Church. Acts xx. 28, 
"Feed the Church of God, which he hath pur- 
chased with his own blood." Eph. v. 25, 26, "Christ 
also loved the Church, and gave himself for it, that 

* Psalni xxii. 30. f Isaiah liii. 10. 



124 THE ATONEMENT. 

he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of 
water by the word." 

5. In accordance with these passages of Scripture 
the Presbyterian Confession of Faith says, " The 
Lord Jesus Christ, by his perfect obedience and sacri- 
fice of himself, which he, through the eternal Spirit, 
once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied the jus- 
tice of his Father, and purchased not only reconcilia- 
tion, but an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom 
of heaven for all those whom the Father hath given 
unto him."* The Rev. R. Watson has, therefore, 
fallen into a great mistake, in saying that "No pas- 
sage of Scripture can be adduced, or is even pre- 
tended to exist, which declares that Christ did not 
die equally for all men."f 

6. Strange as it may appear, the doctrine we have 
here maintained was taught by Arminius. Speak- 
ing of " the fruits of the sacerdotal office in 
its administration by Christ," he says, "These bene- 
fits are, (1) The concluding and the confirmation of 
a new covenant. (2) The asking, obtaining, and 
application of all the blessings necessary for the 
salvation of the human race. (3) The institution of 
a new priesthood, both eucharistic and regal; and 
(4) The extreme and final bringing to God of all his 
covenant people."J 

Under this fourth head he says, " With this intent 
the covenant was contracted between God and men ; 
with this intent the remission of sins, the adoption of 
sons, and the Spirit of grace were conferred on the 
Church. For this purpose the new eucharistic and 
royal priesthood was instituted ; that being made 
priests and kings, all the covenant people might be 



* See Confession of Faith Chap. viii. Sec. v. 
f Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. Xx\i. 
% Life of Arminius by Bangs, pp. 130, 131. 



THE ATONEMENT. 125 

brought to their God. In the most expressive lan- 
guage the Apostle Peter ascribes this effect to the 
priesthood of Christ in these words : ' Christ also 
hath once suffered for sins, the just for the un- 
just, that he might bring us to God,' 1 Peter iii. 18. 
The following are also the words of an Apostle con- 
cerning the same act of bringing them to God, 
'Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered 
up the kingdom to God, even the Father,' 1 Cor. 
xv. 24. In Isaiah's prophecy it is said, * Behold I 
and the children whom the Lord hath given me.' 
Let these words be considered as proceeding out of 
the mouth of Christ, when he is bringing his children 
and addressing the Father; not that they may be 
for signs and for wonders to the people, but i a pecu- 
liar treasure to the Lord.' 

" Christ will, therefore, bring all his Church, 
whom he hath redeemed to himself by his own blood, 
that they may receive from the hands of the Father 
of infinite benignity the heavenly inheritance which 
has been procured by his death, promised in his 
word, and sealed by the Holy Spirit, and may enjoy 
it for ever."* 

Here, then, we are taught that in reference to 
fallen man "a new covenant was contracted," "a new 
and royal priesthood instituted, that all the covenant 
people might be brought to God;" — that "Christ 
hath redeemed to himself, by his own blood," (a 
Church and) "will, therefore, bring all his Church, 
whom he hath redeemed, that they may receive from 
the hands of the Father the heavenly inheritance 
procured by his death, promised in his word, and 
sealed by the Holy Spirit." 

Now, this is in exact accordance with the Presby- 
terian Confession of Faith and the Bible, f and in 

* Life of Arminius by Bangs, pp. 137, 138. 
f The General Conference have so far endorsed this quotation 
11* 



126 THE ATONEMENT. 

accordance with it, the Methodist Episcopal Church 
North, unites in the following address to Christ : 

" Thou dying Lamb, thy precious blood 
Shall never lose its power; 
Till all the ransomed Church of Grod 
Be saved to sin no more."* 

This teaches, 1. That the Church of God has been 
ransomed. 

2. That the blood of Christ will continue to have 
an efficacious effect, until all the ransomed shall be 
saved. 

No language could be more explicit. To this we 
may add, that the above verse is taken from a hymn 
composed by that staunch Calvinist, William Cowper. 

As very great stress is laid on such passages of 
Scripture as the following, viz: "He died for all," 
" tasted death for every man," " is the propitiation for 
the sins of the whole world," &c, we will make a few 
remarks in reference to them. 

We have shown already that there is a sense in 
which Christ " died for all," &c, but not in the 
Arminian sense. We will show now that the pas- 
sages referred to do not necessarily imply, nor teach 
unlimited redemption. This we will do by showing, 

1. That such expressions are very often used by 
the inspired writers in a limited sense. Thus, Gen. 
xli. 54 — 57, " And the dearth was in all lands, but 
in Egypt there was bread" — "The famine was over 
all the face of the earth," "and all countries came 
into Egypt to Joseph, to buy corn, because the famine 
was sore in all lands." 

In reference to this we remark, 1. That Egypt was, 
comparatively, a small country, containing an area of 

from Arminius, that they have selected it from his writings, to 
make a part of the Biography they have published of him. 
* Hymn 290. 



THE ATONEMENT. 127 

a few hundred miles only. It is not probable, there- 
fore, that the quantity of grain raised there, during 
the seven years of plenty, was sufficient to supply "all 
countries over all the face of the earth" through a 
"sore famine of seven years." 

2. But admitting the possibility, yet " all countries 
over all the face of the earth" could not possibly at 
that period have obtained it from Egypt, if indeed it 
could have b^n done at any period. "All countries 
over all the face of the earth" must, therefore, be 
limited to the comparatively few that had access to 
Egypt. See also Daniel ii. 38, iv\ 1; v. 19. 

But not to multiply examples from the Old Testa- 
ment, we will go to the New. 

Matt. iii. 1, 5, 6. "In those days came John the 
Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea," &c. 
"Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and 
all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized 
of him." But notwithstanding we are here in- 
formed that "all went and were baptized," Luke 
informs us that " the Pharisees, (the most nume- 
rous sect among the Jews) and lawyers were not 
baptized of him." Luke vii. 30. The word "all" 
must therefore be here limited to a very large ma- 
jority. 

Mark i. 36, 37. "And Simon and they that were 
with him followed after (Jesus), and when they found 
him they said unto him, All men seek after thee." 
Did they intend to convey the idea that the whole 
human family were seeking Christ? or that many 
within Judea only, desired to see him ? 

Mark v. 20. "All men did marvel." Did the sa- 
cred writer intend, or expect to be understood as say- 
ing that all the then living sons of Adam marvelled 
because Christ had cured a maniac? or that this was 
true of the comparatively few only, wiio had heard 
of it? 



128 THE ATONEMENT. 

Luke ii. 1, 3. " There went out a decree from 
Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed." 
"And all went to be taxed, every one into his own 
city." Did "every one" of the human family go to 
be taxed? or such only, within the Roman empire, as 
could go ? 

John xii. 19. "The Pharisees said among them- 
selves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing ? behold 
the world is gone after him." Did th(|Pharisees in- 
tend, or expect to be understood as saying that all of 
Adam's living children had gone after Christ? or 
simply that his followers, among the Jews, had be- 
come numerous? 

Acts xvii. 21. "All the Athenians and strangers 
which were there, spent their time in nothing else but 
either to tell or to hear some new thing." Did Luke 
expect that any reader would understand him to mean 
that none of the Athenians did anything else but 
what is here mentioned? or that such was a very com- 
mon habit among them ? 

Acts xix. 19. " Many also of them which used 
curious arts, brought their books together, and burned 
them before all men." Did Luke suppose he would 
be understood as saying that this was done in presence 
of the whole human family ? or simply that it was 
done publicly? 

Rom. i. 8. " I thank God through Jesus Christ for 
you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the 
whole world." Did not Paul expect to be understood 
as extending his meaning no further than to the 
churches then planted, most of which were within the 
Roman empire? 

Col. i. 23. "The gospel which ye have heard, and 
which was preached to every creature under heaven." 
Although the commission is to "preach the gospel to 
every creature," it has never yet been done. "Every 
creature under heaven" must, therefore, have been 



TIIE ATONEMENT. 129 

intended to be limited to those who had heard the 
gospel. 

Titus ii. 11. "The grace of God that bringeth sal- 
vation hath appeared to all men." Is it true that 
"the grace" here referred to, had then, or has, at any 
time since, appeared to the whole human family? If 
not, Paul's meaning must have been intended to bo 
limited to those to whom it had appeared. 

Rev. xiii. 3. " All the world wondered after the 
beast." Did all the human family do this at any 
time? The meaning evidently is, that very many 
surveyed the pope of Rome with astonishment and 
went after him. 

Such expressions are common in all languages, and 
are understood to be limited in their meaning to what 
the sense requires in the connections in which they 
stand. The same is true of the atonement also. The 
creeds of all evangelical churches, without excep- 
tion, define the atonement in accordance with the 
teaching of the Scriptures, "a satisfaction for sin." 
But for whom is it a satisfaction ? If it is " for all 
the sins of the whole world, both original and actual," 
then all will infallibly be saved. But Arminians deny 
that all will be saved, and this denial is certainly in 
accordance with the most explicit and unequivocal 
teaching of the Holy Scriptures. For the sins of 
whom, then, is the atonement "a satisfaction?" 

God says to Abraham, " In thee shall all the fami- 
lies of the earth be blessed." Gen. xii. 3. Again he 
says, "In thy seed shall all nations of the earth be 
blessed." Gen. xxii. 18. 

The blessing here promised refers, no doubt, to the 
sacred "Oracles" which were committed to, and pre- 
served by his posterity, and to the Redeemer, who 
descended from him. It has been shown already that 
there is a sense in which all are literally blessed by 
the posterity of Abraham, but that in the sense of 



130 EFFECTUAL CALLING. 

universal salvation all are not so blessed. How then 
is it to be understood in reference to the blessing of 
salvation ? We answer, the song of the redeemed ex- 
plains it, "Thou has redeemed us out of every kindred, 
and tongue, and nation, and people." Rev. v. 9. 

Again, the Apostle John, speaking of Christ, says, 
"He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours 
only, but also for the sins of the whole world." 
1 John ii. 2. 

Is it asked how we can explain this consistently, 
with the idea of a limited atonement ? We answer, 
Paul explains it, when he says, " God was in Christ 
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their 
trespasses unto them," 2 Cor. v. 19. We may say 
with confidence, therefore, that Christ is the propitia- 
tion for the sins of the whole world, whom God is 
reconciling unto himself, not imputing their tres- 
passes unto them. 



CHAPTER XI 



EFFECTUAL CALLING. 



It has been shown that the eternal plan of salvation, 
contemplated the human family as fallen in Adam, 
"dead in sin," and under sentence of "condemna- 
tion" — that of men thus fallen, some were " given to 
Christ," and their names recorded "in the book of 
life from the foundation of the world" — that for the 
sins of these, he fully satisfied the justice of God, 
purchased for them reconciliation with the Father, 
and an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of 
heaven. 



EFFECTUAL CALLING. 131 

But before lie came in the flesh, it was announced, 
that he "should see his seed," Isaiah liii. 10; and 
"should save his people from their sins," Mat. i. 21; 
that " a seed should serve him which should be 
accounted to the Lord for a generation," Psalm xxii. 
30; and that "he should see of the travail of his 
soul, and be satisfied," Isaiah liii. 11 ; that " his 
people should be willing in the day of his power, 
Psalm ex. 3 ; and that " the ransomed of the Lord 
should return and come to Zion," Isaiah xxxv. 10. 
Accordingly, when addressing the Father, after his 
incarnation, he says, " Thou hast given him power 
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as 
many as thou hast given him," John xvii. 2. Again 
he says " All that the Father giveth me, shall come 
to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise 
ca3t out. For I came down from heaven not to do 
mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 
And this is the Father's will that hath sent me, that 
of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, 
but should raise it up at the last day." " It is writ- 
ten in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of 
God; every one, therefore, that hath learned of the 
Father, cometh unto me," John vi. 37 — 39, 45. 
"All that ever came before me (professing to be the 
Messiah) are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did 
not hear them." "I am the good shepherd, and know 
my sheep, and am known of mine." " And other 
sheep I have, which are not of. this fold, them also I 
must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there 
shall be one fold, and one shepherd." "Ye believe 
not because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto 
you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, 
and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal 
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any 
pluck them out of ray hand. My Father which gave 
them me is greater than all, and none is able to pluck 



132 EFFECTUAL CALLING. 

them out of my Father's hand." John x. 8, 14, 16, 
26—29. 

In these passages we are taught that Christ " hath 
power over all flesh to give eternal life to as many 
as were given him" — that, in addition to the sheep 
already gathered into his Church, he has others that 
will, in due time, be gathered in — that all who were 
given him shall come to him, and that not one of 
them will be lost — that they shall be all taught of 
God, and having learned of the Father, will come to 
the Son — that although " false prophets and false 
Christs may arise, and show great signs and won- 
ders, so that if it were possible they would deceive 
the very elect," the sheep will not hear them. Mat. 
xxiv. 24; John x. 5, 8. 

Again, we remark, that as Christ died for those 
that were given to him, with the design of saving them, 
so also for them he prayed, and continues to pray. 
Addressing the Father, he says, " I pray not for 
the world, but for them which thou hast given me, 
for they are thine." "Neither pray I for these 
alone, but for them also which shall believe on me 
through their word." John xvii. 9, 20. 

Again he says, " Father, I will that they also 
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, 
that they may behold my glory." John xvii. 24. 

Now, as he has told us that the Father " has heard 
him, and hears him always," (John xi. 41, 42 ;) and as 
believers have such " an advocate with the Father," 
(1 John ii. 1,) they may well say with the Apostle, 
" Who is he that condemneth ? it is Christ that died, 
yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right 
hand of God, who also maketh continual intercession 
for us," Rom. viii. 84. The Presbyterian Confession 
of Faith says, accordingly, that " To all those for 
whom Christ hath purchased redemption, he doth cer- 
tainly and effectually apply and communicate the 



EFFECTUAL CALLING. 133 

same, making intercession for them, and revealing 
unto them, in and by his word, the mysteries of sal- 
vation, effectually persuading them by his Spirit to 
believe and obey."* 

We have now given a summary view of the doctrine 
of the Presbyterian Church in reference to the efficacy 
of the divine call. We will, in the next place, pre- 
sent the Calvinistic doctrine of the Methodist Church 
on the same subject. 

They " have established," as has been shown, " that 
the import of the death threatened to Adam, included 
corporal, spiritual and eternal death, and that the 
sentence included the whole of his posterity" — that 
although " a full provision to meet the case is made in 
the gospel, that does not affect the state in which we 
are born" — that "in Adam all died, all human kind, 
all the children of men that were then in Adam's 
loins. The natural consequence of which is, that 
every one descended from him comes into the world 
spiritually dead, dead to God, void of the image of 
God, and of all that righteousness and holiness wherein 
Adam was created" — that consequently, "an entire 
indifference or aversion to heavenly things is repre- 
sented as the state of all who are not quickened by 
the instrumentality of the gospel, employed by the 
power and agency of the divine Author" — that "sucn 
is the corrupt state of man, that to suppose him capable 
of evangelical repentance, which is the result of a 
genuine principle, is to assume human nature to be 
what it is not" — that " boasting of our faith is cut off 
by the consideration that it is the gift of God" — that 
" the reason why all men have not (saving) faith, is 
because no man is able to work it in himself. It 
being the work of Omnipotence, requires no less 
power thus to quicken a dead soul, than to quicken a 

* See Confession of Faith, Chap. viii. Sec. viii. 

12 



134 EFFECTUAL CALLING. 

dead body that lies in the grave, and none can create 
a soul anew, but He who at first created the heavens 
and the earth." 

If then, such be the spiritual death of fallen man, 
nothing short of an effectual call from God can bring 
him into an estate of spiritual life. Accordingly, we 
have the following from Arminius, as quoted by 
Watson : 

" It is impossible for free will without grace to be- 
gin or perfect any true or spiritual good. I say, the 
grace of Christ which pertains to regeneration, is sim- 
ply and absolutely necessary for the illumination of 
the mind, the ordering of the affections, and the incli- 
nation of the will to that which is good. It is that 
which operates on the mind, the affections and the 
will; which infuses good thoughts into the mind, in- 
spires good desires into the affections, and leads the 
will to execute good' thoughts and good desires. It 
prevents, (goes before,) accompanies and follows. It 
excites, assists, works in us to will, and works with us, 
that we may not work in vain. ... It begins, pro- 
motes, perfects, and consummates salvation. I confess 
that the mind of the natural and carnal man is dark- 
ened, his affections are depraved and disordered, his 
will is refractory, and that the man is dead in sin."* 

Mr. Wesley is as decided as Arminius — " God works 
in you, therefore you can work, otherwise it would be 
impossible. If he did not work in you, it would be 
impossible for you to work out your own salvation. . . . 
Yea, it would be impossible for any that is born of a 
woman, unless God work in him. Seeing all men are 
by nature not only sick, but dead in trespasses and in 
sins, it is not possible for them to do anything well 
till God raises them from the dead. It was impossi- 
ble for Lazarus to come forth out of the grave till the 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. XYiii. 



EFFECTUAL CALLING. 135 

Lord had given him life ; and it is equally impossible 
for us to come forth out of our sins; yea, or to make 
the least motion towards it, till He who hath all power 
in heaven and in earth call our dead souls into life."* 

The Articles of Religion of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church say, " The condition of man after the fall of 
Adam is such, that he cannot turn and prepare him- 
self by his own natural strength and works, to faith 
and calling upon God — wherefore we have no power 
to do good works, pleasant and acceptable, without the 
grace of God, by Christ preventing us, that we may 
have a good will, and working with us while we have 
that good will." (Article VIII.) 

Mr. Wesley and the General Conference say, "Nei- 
ther this opinion nor that, but the love of God humbles 
man, and that only. Let but this be shed abroad in 
his heart, and he abhors himself in dust and ashes. 
As soon as this enters into his soul, lowly shame 
covers his face. That thought, 'What is God? What 
hath he done forme?' is immediately followed by 
'What am I?' And he knoweth not what to do, or 
where to hide, or how to abase himself before the 
great God of love."f 

The Rev. R. Watson says, " God employs various 
means to awaken men to a due sense of their fallen and 
endangered condition, and to prompt and influence 
them (sometimes with mighty efficacy,) to seek his 
favour and grace in the way which he has ordained 
himself in his revealed word. "J 

Thus far we are taught, as explicitly as language 
can teach it, that such is the state of spiritual death 
into which men are fallen, that God only can call 
them into a state of spiritual life, and that this he 
"sometimes does with mighty efficacy." If then, a 

* Sermon on Working ont onr own Salvation. 
f Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 89, UO. 

X Theological Institutes, Part II. Chapter xxiii. 



136 EFFECTUAL CALLING. 

man does not build a house without having intended 
to build it, nor Congress adjourn without having in- 
tended to adjourn, nor the President sign a bill without 
having intended to sign it, &c, &c, neither does God 
impart spiritual life in any case, without having in- 
tended to impart it. Unless, therefore, he imparts it 
to all, he must have selected those to whom he im- 
parts it. Accordingly, the Rev. R. Watson says, 
" How truly is our salvation of God. God sought 
Saul, it was not Saul that first sought God. So it 
has been in regard to us, though the case as to our- 
selves be attended with less that is remarkable, yet it 
is equally true. Never should we have turned from 
the world and sin to God, had he not laid his hand 
upon us, and given us at once the disposition and the 
power."* 

Now this accords with the teaching of the Scrip- 
tures. Psalm lxv. 4, "Blessed is the man whom thou 
choosest and causest to approach unto thee." 

This teaches, 1. That some are chosen. There is 
election. 2. That those who are chosen are " caused 
to approach unto God." There is the effectual call to 
the elect. Acts xiii. 48. " And when the gentiles heard 
this (the discourse of Barnabas and Paul) they were 
glad, and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many 
as were ordained to eternal life believed." 

This teaches, 1. That some are ordained to eternal 
life. There is election. 2. That under the preaching 
of the gospel, those who are " ordained to eternal life 
believe." There is the efficacy of the call to the 
elect. 

Rom. viii. 28 — "For we know that all things work 
together for good to them that love God, to them who 
are the called according to his purpose. For whom 
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be'con- 

* Sermon on the Conversion of Saul. 



EFFECTUAL CALLING. 137 

formed to the image of his Son, that he might be the 
first-born among many brethren. Moreover, whom 
he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he 
called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, 
them he also glorified." 

This teaches, 1. That some are predestinated to be 
conformed to the image of Christ. There is election. 
2. That as they are predestinated to that blessing, 
their election is unconditional. 3. That they who are 
so predestinated, are called, justified, and glorified. 
There is the end of their election. 4. That although 
all who hear the gospel are in one sense called, they 
only who are called according to the purpose of God, 
and predestinated to be conformed to the image of his 
Son, are so called as to be justified and glorified. 
There is the efficacy of the call. 

We have now seen that the human family are, in 
consequence of Adam's sin, in a state of spiritual 
death, and under sentence of condemnation — that out 
of the mere good pleasure of God some of these were 
"chosen," and in due time "caused to approach unto 
God," "ordained to eternal life," and in due time, 
"believe." "Predestinated to be conformed to the 
image of Christ," and in due time so "called," as to 
be "justified" and "glorified." 

Now, this corresponds exactly with the teaching of 
Mr. Wesley and his brethren. These we have seen 
" differed in nothing from the doctrines of the Church 
of England, as laid down in her Prayers, Articles, and 
Homilies."* The seventeenth 'article of the Church 
of England is as follows, viz. "Predestination to life, 
is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby, before the 
foundations of the world were laid, he hath constantly 
decreed by his counsel, secret to us, to deliver from 
curse and damnation those whom he hath chosen in 

* Watsou's Life of Wesley, pp. 70, 77. 

12* 



138 EFFECTUAL CALLING. 

Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ 
to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour. 
Wherefore they which he endued with so excellent a 
benefit of God, he called according to God's purpose 
by his Spirit working in due season ; they through 
grace obey the calling ; they be made sons of God by 
adoption; they be made like the image of his only 
begotten Son, Jesus Christ; they walk religiously in 
good works, and at length by God's mercy they attain 
to everlasting felicity." 

Such then is the Calvinistic teaching of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church in reference to the doctrine of 
effectual calling. The only difference thus far be- 
tween them and those who adopt the Westminister 
Confession of Faith, is this, Methodists maintain that 
God sends countless millions to hell, notwithstanding 
" a perfect redemption, propitiation and satisfaction 
has been made for all their sins," while Presbyterians 
maintain that he takes all such to heaven. 

Having presented the Calvinistic and scriptural 
view of the Methodist Episcopal Church on this sub- 
ject, we will present next their hyper-Calvinistic view, 
viz. irresistible grace. 

"It will be freely allowed," says Mr. Watson, 
" that the visitations of the gracious influence of the 
Holy Spirit are vouchsafed in the first instance, and 
in numberless other cases, quite independent of our 
seeking or desiring them . . . and also that men are 
sometimes suddenly and irresistibly awakened to a 
sense of their guilt and danger by the Spirit of God, 
either through the preaching of the word instrument- 
ally, or through other means, and sometimes even 
independent of any external means at all, and are thus 
constrained to cry out, ' What must I do to be saved?' 
All this is confirmed by plain verity of Holy Writ."* 

Notwithstanding it is here admitted that "men 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxviii. 



EFFECTUAL CALLING. 139 

are sometimes suddenly and irresistibly awakened," 
it is denied that such an influence is ever continued 
till conversion. "For," say they, "in the instance of 
the mightiest visitation we can produce from Scrip- 
ture, that of St. Paul, we see when the irresistible 
influence terminated, and when his own agency re- 
commenced. Under the impulse of the conviction 
struck into his mind, as well as under the dazzling 
brightness which fell upon his eyes, he was passive, 
and the effect produced for the time necessarily fol- 
lowed; but all the acts consequent upon this, were 
the results of deliberation, and personal choice."* 

Here, it is admitted that the divine influence was 
irresistible until the subject of it became both willing 
and obedient — that is, the grace of God "worked in 
him both to will and to do" what God required. But 
if anything more is necessary to constitute a man a 
Christian, Arminians will do the world a favour by 
telling what it is. So then, Mr. Watson does teach 
the occasional irresistible efficacy of the divine call. 

Mr. Wesley and the General Conference not only 
"allow (that) God may possibly, at sometimes work 
irresistibly in some souls (but) believe he does."f 
Mr. Wesley admits also, that "there are exempt 
cases, wherein the overwhelming power of divine 
grace does for a time work as irresistibly, as light- 
ning falling from heaven. "J 

Again he says: "I believe that the grace which 
brings faith, and thereby salvation, into the soul, is 
irresistible at that moment ;' that most persons do, 
at some other times, find God, irresistibly acting upon 
their souls. Yet, I believe that the grace of God, 
both before and after those moments, may be, and 
hath been resisted; and that in general, it does not 

* Theological Institutes, part II. Chap, xxviii. 

f Doctrinal Tracts page 87. 

X Sermon on the General Spread of the Gospel. 



140 EFFECTUAL CALLING. 

act irresistibly, but we may comply therewith, or may 
not. And I do not deny, that in some souls the grace 
of God is so far irresistible, that they cannot but be- 
lieve, and be finally saved."* 

While then, the divines of Geneva speak of "effi- 
cacious grace," and the divines of Westminster say 
that " God effectually calls men by his word and 
Spirit, &c, yet so that they come most freely, being 
made willing by his grace, "f the hyper-Calvinistic 
Methodist Episcopal Church teaches, that there are 
cases wherein divine grace is " as irresistible as 
lightning" — that " men are sometimes suddenly and 
irresistibly awakened to a sense of their guilt and 
danger," and the influence continued until they both 
will, and do, as God requires; that "the grace of 
God which bringeth faith and thereby salvation into 
the soul, is irresistible at that moment," and it is 
"not denied, that in some souls, the grace of God is 
so far irresistible, that they cannot but believe, and be 
finally saved." 

But we will show next what they teach as Armini- 
ans on this subject. "It will not bear disputing," 
says Mr. Watson "whether regeneration begins with 
repentance. For if the regenerate state is only 
entered upon at our justification, then, all that can 
be meant by it, to be consistent with the scripture, is, 
that the preparatory process which leads to regenera- 
tion, as it leads to pardon, commences with convic- 
tion and contrition, and goes on to a repentant turn- 
ing to the Lord. In the order God has established, 
regeneration does not take place without this pro- 
cess. Conviction of the evil and danger of an unre- 
generate state must first be felt. God hath ap- 
pointed this change to be effected in answer to our 
prayers, and acceptable prayer supposes we desire the 

* Works, Vol. iii. p. 289. f Confession of Faith, x. Chap. Sec. i. 






EFFECTUAL CALLING. 141 

blessings we ask — that we accept of Christ as the 
appointed medium of access to God — that we feel 
and confess our inability to obtain what we ask of 
another ; and that we exercise faith in the promises 
of God, which convey the good we seek. It is clear 
that none of these is regeneration, for they all sup- 
pose it to be a good in prospect, the object of prayer 
and enger desire."* u Regeneration is effected by 
this ("sanctifying") Spirit restored to us, and is a 
consequence of our pardon. "f 

" To be in Christ is to be justified, and regenera- 
tion instantly follows. "j "God, the fountain of 
spiritual life, forsook the soul of Adam, now polluted 
by sin, (through the fall) and unfit for his residence. 
He became morally dead and corrupt, and as that 
which is born of the flesh is flesh, this is the natural 
state of his descendants. "§ 

"The second Adam is a quickening Spirit. The 
Holy Spirit is the purchase of his redemption, to be 
given to man, that he may infuse into his corrupt 
nature the heavenly life, and sanctify and regenerate 

it'll 

In these quotations Mr. Watson teaches that we 
exercise a living faith in Christ, evangelical repent- 
ance toward God, and are justified, or pardoned, and 
offer earnest and acceptable prayer for the renovation 
of our corruptible nature, before we are regenerated. 
But if, as they have said before, " the state of the 
regenerate mind is represented as a resurrection, and 
a passing from death unto life, "If and "repentance 
is the result of a genuine principle,"** " flowing 
from love to God, and hatred to sin,"ff and "seri- 
ous considerations of our ways, confession of the 



* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxiv. f Ibid. 

J Ibid. I Ibid. Chap, xviii. || Ibid. \ Ibid. 

** Ibid. Chap. xix. ff Wesley's Sermon on the New Birth. 



142 EFFECTUAL CALLING. 

fact, and sorrowful conviction of the evil and danger 
of sin, will follow the gift of repentance,"* we ask 
with Wesley, "Is it possible for a heart totally cor- 
rupt, * dead in trespasses and in sins,' to exercise 
such repentance?"! Again, if "boasting of our 
faith, is cut off by the consideration, that it is the 
gift of God, "J and if " the true, living Christian 
faith, which, whosoever hath, is born of God, is not 
only an assent of the mind, or act of the understand- 
ing, but a disposition- wrought in heart,"§ "it is a 
new creation." 

Again, while Mr. Watson says, " To be in Christ, 
is to be justified, and regeneration instantly follows," 
Paul says, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new 
creature." 2 Cor. v. 17. 

So then, while Mr. Watson and the General Confer- 
ence represent the sinner as exercising evangelical 
repentance and faith — as being united to Christ and 
praying for regeneration; according to themselves, 
Mr. Wesley, and Paul, he has already obtained what 
he is praying for, and labouring to obtain, viz. a new 
heart. 

Again, if " the carnal mind is enmity against God, 
not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, 
so that >they who are in the flesh cannot please God,"[| 
he who exercises such repentance and faith, and offers 
such prayer as God accepts, is " created anew in 
Christ Jesus unto good works "** — is born again, and 
that not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of 
the will of man, but of God."ff Accordingly the 
prophet Jeremiah, personating Ephraim, says, " Sure- 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxiii. 
f Sermon on the New Birth. 
j Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxiii. 
$ Wesley's Sermon on the Marks of the New Birth. 
|| Rom. viii. 7, 8. *'* Eph. ii. 10. 

ft Johni. 13; iii. 18, 36; v. 24; vi. 47. 



EFFECTUAL CALLING. 143 

ly after that I was turned I repented, and after that 
I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh. I was 
ashamed, yea even confounded. Jeremiah xxxi. 19. 

But although such language expresses the feelings 
of every true penitent, according to Mr. Watson and 
the General Conference, it should read, " After I 
repented, and was instructed, and smote upon my 
thigh, and was ashamed, yea even confounded, I was 
turned." 

Again, according to Paul, " They that are in the 
flesh, cannot please God." Rom. viii. 8. But ac- 
cording to Watson and the General Conference, they 
can. 

Again Mr. Watson says, " the Holy Spirit is given 
to man that he may infuse into his corrupt nature, 
the heavenly life, and sanctify and regenerate it." 

Can any one tell what will be left in "the corrupt 
nature of man" to "regenerate," after "the Holy 
Spirit" has infused into it heavenly life and sanctified 
it?" 

Dr. Fisk has "laid down the two following funda- 
mental principles:" 

1. " The work of regeneration is performed by the 
direct and efficient operations of the Holy Spirit upon 
the heart. 

2. " The Holy Spirit exerts this regenerating power 
only on conditions to be first complied with by the 
subject of this change."* 

Again he says, "Repentance and faith are suppos- 
ed to be the gospel conditions of regeneration, but it 
is denied that these are necessarily regeneration 
itself, or that they imply regeneration in any other 
sense than as antecedents to it."f "If God will not 
forgive sin without repentance, will he renew the 
heart without it? Has he anywhere promised this? 

* Calvinistic Controversy, No. xiv. f Ibid. xv. 



144 EFFECTUAL CALLING. 

If not, but if on the contrary, he everywhere seems 
to have suspended the working out of our salvation 
in us, upon our repentance, then may we safely con- 
clude — nay, then we must necessarily believe that 
we repent in order to be renewed. The same may 
be said of faith."* 

" The order of the work seems to be — 1. A degree 
of faith in order to repentance. 2. Repentance in 
order to such an increase of faitb/as will lead the 
soul to throw itself upon Christ. 3. The giving up 
of the soul to Christ as the only ground of hope. 
4. The change of heart by the efficient operation of 
the Holy Spirit."f 

Here then, we have — 1. "A degree of faith in 
order to repentance," and — 2. Repentance in order 
to an increase of faith." But surely, if repentance 
is necessary " to an increase of faith," it must be ne- 
cessary to originate faith : for if faith can originate 
without repentance, it may unquestionably increase 
without it. But if repentance is necessary to origi- 
nate faith, yet comes second in the order, then it is 
manifest that there can be neither saving faith, nor 
repentance previous to regeneration. 

But further: God says of Jeremiah, "Before thou 
earnest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee." 
Jer. i. 5. And of John the Baptist it was said, " He 
shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his 
mother's womb." Luke i. 15. 

When therefore, Arminians tell us that " Repent- 
ance and faith are the gospel conditions of regenera- 
tion," and that the Holy Spirit exerts his regenera- 
ting power, only after these conditions are complied 
with by the subject of the change," they flatly con- 
tradict the Bible, not in reference to these cases only, 
but in reference to every infant in heaven. 

Again, the "valley of dry bones" in Ezekiel's 

* Calvinistic Controversy, No. xv. f Ibid; 



EFFECTUAL CALLING. 145 

vision, was said to represent the " whole house of 
Israel," and is admitted to represent the unregener- 
ate human family; and their coming together, being 
clothed with flesh, living and standing up, under the 
preaching of the prophet, is, on all hands admitted to 
prefigure regeneration under the preaching of the 
gospel. Ezek. xxvii. Accordingly Paul, addressing 
the Ephesians says, " And you hath he quickened, 
who were dead in tresspasses and sins." Eph. ii. 1. 
Now surely, if repentance and faith are the prerequi- 
sites of regeneration, not one of those dry bones 
would have ever lived. These divines therefore con- 
tradict the Bible as to adults also. 

Finally, they contradict its teaching as laid down 
by Arminius. "In his lapsed and sinful state," 
says he, " man is not capable of, and by himself, 
either to think, to will, or to do, that which is really 
good; but it is necessary for him to be regenerated, 
and renewed in his intellect, affections, or will, and 
in all his powers by God in Christ, through the Holy 
Spirit, that he maybe qualified rightly to understand, 
esteem, consider, will, and perform whatever is truly 
good."* 

As then, the theory of regeneration under review 
flatly contradicts the Bible, and the Bible, as inter- 
preted by Arminius, it must be false. But there is 
still another view of this subject we wish to notice. 

The Rev. R. Watson tells us that, " The atone- 
ment of Christ, having made it morally practicable 
to exercise mercy, and having removed all legal ob- 
structions out of the way of reconciliation, that 
mercy pours itself forth in ardent and ceaseless efforts 
to accomplish its own purposes," &c.f 

Here the Deity is represented as making " ardent 

* Life of Arminius, by Bangs, page 224. 

f Theological Institutes, Part II. Cliap. xxiii. 

13 



146 EFFECTUAL CALLING. 

and ceaseless efforts to accomplish his purposes," yet 
as unable to do so. 

Again, Mr. Wesley, in a conversation with the 
Bishop of London, in reference to " Justification by 
faith alone," remarked, that " the gift of faith, pre- 
supposes nothing in us but sin and misery." 

"Then," said the Bishop, "you make God a 
tyrannical being, if he justifies some without any 
goodness in them preceding, and does not justify all. 
If these are not justified on account of some moral 
goodness in them, why are not they justified too?" 

To this Wesley replied, " Because, my lord, they 
resist his Spirit; because they will not come to him 
that they may have life ; because they suffer him 
not to work in them both to will and to do,"* &c. 
That is, they do not will to permit the Almighty 
to work in them to will and to do. 

In our first chapter it was shown that, according to 
Arminians, the devil is an overmatch for God; and 
now, according to the same authority, we see him 
overmatched by man also. Again, they represent 
the Almighty as " saving all that consent thereto, 
and doing for the rest, all that infinite wisdom, al- 
mighty power, and boundless love can do, without 
forcing them to be saved, which would be to destroy 
the very nature he had given them."f 

But if this be true, there is no sense in beseeching 
almighty God to " take away the stony heart, and 
give us an heart of flesh,"J or to " create in us a 
clean heart, and renew a right spirit within us,"§ or to 
" work in us both to will and to do of his good 
pleasure." Phil. ii. 13. The proper way would be to 
beseech almighty man, to permit God to change and 
save his soul. 

* Whitehead's Life of Wesley, page 75. 

•j- Doctrinal Tracts, page 56. 

X Ezekiel xxxvi. 26. \ Psalm li. 10. 



EFFECTUAL CALLING. 147 

Again, Mr. Wesley, commenting on Romans viii. 
28, viz. " For whom he did foreknow, he also did 
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his 
Son," says, " That is, those who are conformable."* 

Here Mr. Wesley represents the Almighty as un- 
dertaking such cases only, as he knows he can 
manage ; that is, he undertakes the easy ones. The 
same idea is presented by the General Conference, 
when, speaking of the work of sanctification, they 
say, " We know likewise, that God may, with man's 
good leave, cut short his work in whatever degree he 
pleases, and do the usual work of many years in a 
moment."t 

This, it is true, is somewhat different from Mr. 
Wesley, when, in his review of Taylor on Original 
Sin, he asks, " What is holiness ? Is it not essen- 
tially love, the love of God and all mankind, love 
producing * bowels of mercies, humbleness of mind, 
meekness, gentleness, long-suffering?' And cannot 
God shed abroad this love in any soul without his 
concurrence, antecedent to his knowledge or con- 
sent V"J 

Again, Mr. Wesley and the General Conference 
represent Christ as u saving all that consent there- 
to,'^ and as "electing all, who suffer him to make 
them alive. "|| 

But if this be true, then it follows that he cannot 
" quicken" some of those who are " dead in sin," 
without their "consent," nor give life to all such 
" dry bones," as were seen in Ezekiel's vision, unless 
they " suffer him" to do so. This certainly is some- 
what different from Mr. Wesley, when he says, " In 
the same manner that he has assisted five in one 

* Notes on the New Testament. 

f Doctrinal Tracts, page 345. 

X Works, Vol. v. page 560. 

\ Doctrinal Tracts, page 5G. || Ibid, page 174. 



148 EFFECTUAL CALLING. 

house to make the happy choice, fifty or five hun- 
dred in one city, and many thousands in a nation, 
without destroying their liberty, he can undoubtedly 
convert whole nations, or the whole world."* There 
is still another inconsistency or so, connected with 
this subject, which we wish to notice. 

Mr. Wesley says, " It may be allowed God acts as 
a sovereign, in convincing some souls of sin, arresting 
them in their mad career by resistless power. It 
seems also, that at the moment of our conversion, he 
acts irresistibly. .There may likewise be many irre- 
sistible touches in the course of our Christian war- 
fare. But still, as St. Paul might have been either 
obedient or disobedient to the heavenly vision, so 
every individual may, after all that God has done, 
either improve his grace, or make it of none effect."f 

Again he says, "I am persuaded there are no men 
living that have not many times resisted the Holy 
Ghost, and made void the counsel of God against 
themselves; yea, I am persuaded every child of God 
has had at some time, life and death set before him, 
eternal life and eternal death, and has had in himself 
the casting vote. "J 

And yet, he says again, "I do not deny that in 
some souls the grace of God is so far irresistible, that 
they cannot but believe and be finally saved."§ 
Those who sail without helmsman, chart or compass, 
are liable to be driven by contrary winds in contrary 
directions. 

As to the idea that "there are no men living, who 
have not made void the counsel of God," we need only 
say that such an idea is, at the least, anti-scriptural. 
Thus, Psalm xxxiii. 10, " The counsel of the Lord 

* Sermon on the General Spread of the Gospel, 
f Works, Vol. I, page 236. 
X Sermon on the General Spread of the Gospel. 
\ Works, Vol. III. page 289. 



EFFECTUAL CALLING. 149 

standeth for ever." Proverbs xix. 21, " There are 
many devices in a man's heart, nevertheless, the 
counsel of the Lord, that shall stand." 

It is not wonderful, therefore, that when Gamaliel 
addressed the Jews, who were opposing the Apostles, 
he should say, " If this counsel, or this work, be of 
men, it will come to nought, but if it be of God, ye 
cannot overthrow it." Acts v. 38, 39. It must be 
admitted, however, that Mr. Wesley would have ex- 
pressed a different opinion. 

Once more. Notwithstanding Paul tells us, " The 
carnal mind is enmity against God," &c, so that 
" they that are in the flesh cannot please him," Mr. 
Watson and the General Conference teach, as we have 
seen, that they can. 

Dr. Fisk also, speaking of " the necessary prepara- 
tives" for regeneration, says, all we "claim is, they 
are what God approves of, and are the necessary con- 
ditions of his subsequent work of renewing the heart."* 

Mr. Wesley "is very bold," however, and denies 
them both — "Holiness," he says, "can have no 
existence till we are renewed in the spirit of our 
mind. It cannot exist till the power of the Highest 
overshadowing us, we are brought from darkness to 
light, from the power of Satan unto God : that is, till 
we are born again; which, therefore, is absolutely 
necessary to holiness. "f 

Again, speaking of " the inbred corruptions of the 
heart," he asks, "What fruit can grow on such 
branches as these?" and answers, " Only such as are 
bitter, and evil continually. "J 

Again he says, "Knowest thou not that thou canst 
do nothing but sin till thou art reconciled to God? 



* Calvinistic Controversy, No. XV. 

f Sermon on the New Birth. 

X Sermon on The Way to the Kingdom. 

13* 



150 EFFECTUAL CALLING. 

Wherefore then dost thou say, I must do this and that 
first, and then I shall believe? Nay, but first believe. 
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the propitiation for 
thy sins. Let this good foundation first be laid, and 
then thou shalt do all things well."* Now, as the 
views of Mr. Wesley are Calvinistic and scriptural, 
they, of course, must have the proponderance, and set 
the others aside. 

Finally, according to Mr. Watson, "The prepara- 
tory process which leads to regeneration, as it leads 
to pardon, commences with conviction and contrition, 
and goes on to a repentant turning unto the Lord." 
" The order of the divine operation in individual ex- 
perience, is, conviction of sin, helplessness and dan- 
ger, faith, justification and regeneration. "f 

According to Dr. Fisk, it is, as we have seen— ■ 
"1. Faith. 2. Repentance in order to an increase of 
faith. 3. The giving up of the soul to Christ as the 
only ground of hope. 4. The change of heart by the 
efficient operations of the Holy Spirit." 

According to Dr. A. Clarke, " The order of the 
great work of salvation is — 1. Conviction of sin. 
2. Conversion from sin. 3. Faith in the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 4. Justification, or pardon. "f 

Here then, are three widely different views of the 
same subject, by three standard writers in the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, each endorsed by the General 
Conference. But as those of Messrs. Watson and 
Fisk are endorsed and published only, while that of 
Dr. Clarke is selected from his writings, endorsed, and 
published, and as it is nearly Calvinistic, and nearly 
scriptural, it ought to prevail. 

And now to sum up the whole, the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church teaches, 1. The Calvinistic and scrip- 

* Sermon on the Kighteousness of Faith. 
f Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxiv. 
J Clarke's Theology, page 148. 



EFFECTUAL CALLING. 151 

tural efficacy of the call of divine grace. 2. The 
hyper-Calvinistic irresistibility of the call. 3. The 
Arminian, or as we should rather say, the Methodist 
conditionality and resistibility of the call. 

The same Church teaches again — 1. That an unre- 
generate man may render to God an acceptable 
spiritual service. 2. That he cannot render such a 
service. 

Finally, it teaches, as we have seen, that "the 
order of the divine operation is, 1. Conviction of sin. 
2. Helplessness and danger. 3. Faith. 4. Justifica- 
tion and regeneration." 

It teaches again, that the order is, 1. Faith. 

2. Repentance, in order to an increase of faith. 

3. The giving up of the soul to Christ. 4. Regene- 
ration by the Holy Spirit. 

It teaches again, that the order is, 1. Conviction of 
sin. 2. Conversion from sin. 3. Faith in the Lord 
Jesus Christ. 4. Justification or pardon. 

So then, although we have endeavoured to inform 
the reader of what it does teach on the subject we 
have had before us, we pretend not to have informed 
him of what it does not teach. When, therefore, Dr. 
Fisk and the General Conference, speaking of Calvin- 
ists, say, " If man has natural power to choose life, he 
has power to get to heaven without grace," but that 
it requires something more to enable the Arminian to 
get there, it must be, because the latter takes so many 
wrong roads.* 

* The following is their language. "Herein we differ widely 
from the Oalvinists. They tell us, man has natural power to choose 
life. If so, he has power to get to heaven without grace. We say, 
on the contrary, that man is utterly unable to choose the way to 
heaven, or to pursue it when chosen, without the grace of God." 
Calvinbtic Controversy, the Sermon. 



152 



CHAPTER XII. 



OBJECTIONS TO SOME OF THE FOREGOING DOCTRINES. 

Having noticed briefly, the inconsistencies of Armi- 
nians in reference to the divine decrees, the foreknow- 
ledge of God, the doctrine of election, of the atone- 
ment, and of effectual calling, we will notice next, 
the objections which they urge against some of the 
teachings of Calvinists on all these subjects. Here, 
it is to be remembered however, that they themselves 
teach all these doctrines, as decidedly as they are 
taught in the Presbyterian Confession of Faith. 
When, therefore, they object, they object as Armi- 
nians, to what they teach as Calvinists. 

Objection 1. "Whatever it prove beside, no Scrip- 
ture can prove predestination."* Such is the text; 
now for the sermon. 

We have seen already, that as Calvinists, the 
Methodist Episcopal Church holds to the doctrine of 
personal unconditional election, which is, as we have 
seen, "to holiness," to repentance, to faith, "to 
obedience," "to approach unto God," "to know his 
will," "to be conformed to the image of his Son," 
"to the adoption of children," and "to salvation." 
But that as Arminians, they maintain that election is 
conditional, and does not take place till after the sub- 
jects of it are holy, repent, believe, obey, approach 
unto God, know his will, are conformed to the image 
of his Son, are adopted as children, and saved from 
sin. 

We have seen also, how completely their Calvin- 
istic teaching is sustained by the word of God, and 
how they attempt, yet fail to sustain what they teach 

* Doctrinal Tracts, page 172. 



"no scripture can teach predestination/' 153 

as Arminians. Our text naturally leads to some 
further notice of what they say on the latter side of 
the question. The Rev. Professor Alcinous Young, 
formerly of the Pittsburgh Conference, commenting 
on Psalm lxv. 4, viz. "Blessed is the man whom thou 
choosest, and causest to approach unto thee," says, 
" This passage proves that an election of God takes 
place when the sinner comes to him. The verb 
choosest, is in the present tense, and represents an 
action, or an event passing at that time. And so it is 
with the verb causest, also in the present tense. The 
sinner then, being drawn by the Holy Spirit, yields, 
or submits to the drawing, comes to Christ, and is 
blessed indeed. Such an individual may be said with 
propriety to be chosen of God."* This, however, 
exactly reverses the order of the Scriptures. David 
says, "Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and 
causest to approach unto thee." But Mr. Young 
teaches that the sinner is first caused to approach, 
and is then chosen. The reader however will be at 
no loss to understand this, if he bears in mind the 
text, viz. "No Scripture can preach predestina- 
tion." 

Again, our Saviour says, "All that the Father 
giveth me, shall come to me." John.vi. 37. Dr. A. 
Clarke, commenting on this passage, says, "Those 
w T ho come at the call of God, he is represented here 
as giving to Christ." 

Here again the reader must recall the text. For 
while Christ says, "All that the Father giveth me, 
shall come to me," Dr. Clarke says, "All that come 
to Christ, the Father gives him." 

The Rev. R. Watson, commenting on this passage, 
says, "The phrase, to be given to Christ by the 
Father, had a special application to those pious Jews 

* Marriage Dinner, page 48. 



154 "no scripture can teach predestination." 

who waited for redemption at Jerusalem ; those who 
read and believed the writings of Moses, and who 
were thus prepared by more spiritual views than the 
rest, though they were not unmixed with obscurity, 

to receive Christ as the Messiah 

Taught by the Father, led by the sincere belief 
and general spiritual understanding of the Scrip- 
tures, as to the Messiah, when Christ appeared, 
they were drawn and given to him, as the now 
visible and accredited head, teacher, Lord and 
Saviour of the Church."* To this interpretation 
however, there are insuperable objections. For 
1. When Christ says, "All that the Father giveth 
me, shall come to me," he evidently alludes to the 
same that he does when addressing the Father, he 
says, "Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that 
he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast 
given him."f But although Christ himself authorizes 
so extensive a meaning, the Rev. R. Watson and the 
General Conference, limit it to the few "pious Jews, 
who waited for redemption at Jerusalem." 2. While 
Christ says, "All that the Father giveth me, shall 
come to me," the Rev. R. Watson says, "They were 
drawn and given," thus exactly reversing the order 
as laid down by Christ. But farther, we are here 
told of "pious Jews," "taught by the Father, and 
led by the sincere belief, and general spiritual under- 
standing of the Scriptures as to the Messiah, not yet 
drawn to Christ. Again Paul says, Rom. viii. 28, 29, 
"For we know that all things work together for 
good to them that love God, to them who are the 
called according to his purpose. For whom he did 
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to 
the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born 
among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did pre- 

* Theol. Inst. Part II. Chap, xxvii. f John xvii. 2. 



"NO SCRIPTURE CAN TEACn PREDESTINATION." 155 

destinate, them he also called, and whom he called, 
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he 
also glorified." 

To Calvinists, this passage appears to teach pre- 
destination in a very unequivocal manner. It is not 
so, however, with Arminians — let us see how it passes 
through their various crucibles. We will begin with 
Mr. Wesley, who interprets it three times, in as many 
different ways. 1. He says, "the first point is the 
foreknowledge of God. God ' foreknew' those in every 
nation who would believe, from the beginning of the 
world to the consummation of all things," &c. 

"But to proceed. 'Whom he did foreknow, them 
he did predestinate to be conformed to the image of 
his Son.' This is the second step, (to speak after the 
manner of men : for in fact there is nothing before or 
after in God.) In other words, God decrees from 
everlasting to everlasting, that all who believe in the 
Son of his love shall be conformed to his image, shall 
be saved from all inward and outward sin, into all in- 
ward and outward holiness," &c. 

"'Whom he did predestinate, them he also called.' 
This is the third step: (still remembering that we 
speak after the manner of men.) To express it a 
little more largely : — According to his fixed decree, 
that believers should be saved, those whom he fore- 
knows as such, he calls both outwardly and inwardly: 
outwardly by the word of his grace, and inwardly by 
his Spirit. This inward application of his word to 
the heart, seems to be what some term effectual call- 
ing. And it implies the calling them children of God, 
the accepting them in the beloved; the justifying 
them ' freely by his grace, through the redemption 
that is in Christ Jesus.' 

" ' Whom he called, those he justified.' This is the 
fourth step He executed his decree ' con- 
forming them to the image of his Son,' (or as we 



156 "no scripture can teach predestination/' 

usually speak) sanctified them. It remains 'whom 
he justified, those he glorified.' This is the last step."* 

Here then we are taught — 1. That " God foreknew 
those in every nation who would believe." 2. "Them 
he did predestinate (that they) should be saved from all 
inward and outward sin, into all inward and outward 
holiness." 3. " Those whom he foreknows as such 
(viz. as believers) he calls outwardly by the word, and 
inwardly by his Spirit . . children of God." 4. " Sanc- 
tifies them." 5. "Gives them the kingdom which 
was prepared for them before the world began." 

To this we reply, " He that believeth on the Son, 
hath everlasting life;" "is passed from death unto 
life,"f and "shall be saved. "J All true believers are, 
therefore, according to the word of God, the " chil- 
dren of God." That is, they have been called "out- 
wardly by the word, and inwardly by the Spirit" into 
that privilege. According to Mr. Wesley, however, 
all that the word and Spirit do for them, is to call 
them children after they are children. And this 
being done "outwardly and inwardly, is," he tells us, 
"what some term effectual calling." 

This then, is one interpretation ; take another, in 
which the General Conference unite with him. "We 
know that all things work together for good to them 
that love God, (ver. 28,) to them that are called (by 
the preaching of the word) according to his purpose," 
or decree unalterably fixed from eternity, "he that 
believeth shall be saved," "for whom he did fore- 
know," as believing, "he also did predestinate to be 
conformed to the image of his Son." Moreover, 
whom he did predestinate, them he also called " by his 
word" (so that term is usually taken in St. Paul's 
epistles,) "and whom he called, them he also justi- 

* Sermon on Predestination. -j- John iii. 36 ; v. 24. 

% Mark xvi. 16. 



NO SCRIPTURE CAN TEACH PREDESTINATION. 157 

fied, (the word is here taken in its widest sense, as in- 
cluding sanctification also,) and whom he justified 
them he also glorified."* Here, the interpretation is 
much more difficult than the dream. Under the guid- 
ance of the former interpretation, however, we suppose 
they mean that those who love God, and believe, are 
effectually called ; outwardly by the word, and in- 
wardly by the Spirit, "children of God," and "pre- 
destinated to be conformed to the image of his Son," 
&c. According to the Scriptures, however, such per- 
sons are conformed to that image now. Col. iii. 10. 
So that these divines have them predestinated to be 
conformed to what they are conformed to. 

Having noticed two of Mr. Wesley's interpretations, 
we come to the third. Commenting on the 29th verse, 
he says, "Here the Apostle declares who those are, 
whom he foreknows and predestinated to glory, 
namely, those who are conformable to the image of 
his Son. This is the mark of those who are fore- 
known and will be glorified. "f Before, we had all 
who were foreknown as believers, predestinated to 
holiness — outwardly and inwardly called "children of 
God," &c. Now, however, we are taught that some 
only of the human family are "conformable" to the 
divine image, and that as these are foreknown of God, 
they only are predestinated to be conformed to that 
image, &c. In other words, he teaches that the Al- 
mighty undertakes such only as he knows he can 
manage — that is, the easy ones. This, it is true, is 
somewhat different from Mr. Wesley, when he admits 
" there are exempt cases wherein the overwhelming 
power of divine grace does for a time work as irre- 
sistibly as lightning" — and that "in the same manner 
that he has assisted five in one house to make the 



* Doctrinal Tracts, p. 28; 

f Notes on the New Testament. 



14 



158 NO SCRIPTURE CAN TEACH PREDESTINATION. 

happy choice, fifty or five hundred in one city, and 
many thousands in a nation, without destroying their 
liberty, he can undoubtedly convert whole nations, or 
the whole world, it being as easy for him to convert 
the whole world as one individual soul." 

Dr. Fisk, commenting on this passage, says of these 
individuals, that they were "foreknown as possessing 
something which operated as a reason why they should 
be elected rather than others: foreknown doubtless 
as believers in Christ, and as such, according to the 
plan or decree of God, they were to be made con- 
formable to the image of Christ's holiness here, and 
glory hereafter."* 

Here it is admitted that the conformity to the 
image of Christ, to which some are predestinated, 
takes place in the present life, and not hereafter, as 
Mr. Wesley teaches. 

The Rev. R. Watson, commenting on the twenty- 
eighth and twenty-ninth verses, says, "The gospel re- 
veals it that those who love God shall find that all 
things shall work together for their good, because 
they are predestinated to be conformed to the image 
of the Son of God in his glory. Since therefore, 
none but such persons were so foreknown, and so 
predestinated to be heirs of glory, the gospel calling 
was issued according to his purpose or plan of bring- 
ing them that love him to glory, in order to produce 
this love in them."f 

While then Mr. Wesley teaches that God selects 
such only as he foreknows he can manage, and pre- 
destinates them to glory, Mr. Watson teaches that 
he selects those who love him, and predestinates them 
to be conformed to the image of his Son, and calls 
and brings them to glory in order to produce this love 
in them. 

* Calvinistic Controversy — the Sermon. 

f Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxvi. 



NO SCRIPTURE CAN TEACH PREDESTINATION. 159 

The only peculiarity about these interpretations is, 
that they are pre-eminently unscriptural, contradictory, 
and absurd ; and that they agree in nothing but that 
"no Scripture can teach predestination." 

Again, God says, Rom. ix. 15, "I will have mercy 
on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compas- 
sion on whom I will have compassion." And Paul 
adds, " So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of 
him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." 

Let us now see with what ease Mr. Wesley helps 
God and Paul into rank Arminianism. 

"I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, 
namely, on him who believeth in Jesus. ' So then, 
it is not of him that willeth, or of him that runneth,' 
to choose the conditions on which he shall find accept- 
ance."* 

When again, Paul asks, Rom. ix. 21, "Hath not 
the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to 
make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour ?" 
Mr. Wesley introduces Arminianism thus, " Hath 
not God power over his creatures to appoint one ves- 
sel, namely the believer, to honour, and another, the 
unbeliever, to dishonour?"f 

According to Paul, a believer is an honoured, and 
an unbeliever a dishonoured vessel now. But while 
Paul has the potter making one vessel to honour, and 
another to dishonour, out of the same lump of clay, 
Mr. Wesley has him appointing a vessel already hon- 
oured to honour, and another vessel already dishon- 
oured to dishonour. 

On this passage, so easily and summarily dispatch- 
ed by Mr. Wesley, and with so much satisfaction to 
himself, Mr. Watson extends his comment over four 
closely printed octavo pages. J Yet if any one can 

* Sermon on Justification Jby Faith. 

f Notes oa the New Testament. 

% Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxvi. 



160 NO SCRIPTURE CAN TEACH PREDESTINATION. 

see what he is after, or what he brings out of it, save 
that "no Scripture can teach predestination," he is 
possessed of no common powers of discernment. 

Gibbon says, " the Church of Rome has canonized 
Augustin, and reprobated Calvin. Yet as the real 
difference between them is invisible, even to a theolo- 
gical microscope, the Molinists are oppressed, by the 
authority of the Saint, and the Jansenists are dis- 
graced by their resemblance to the heretic. In the 
meanwhile, the Protestant Arminians stand aloof, and 
deride the mutual perplexity of the disputants. Per- 
haps a reasoner still more independent, may smile in 
his turn, when he peruses an Arminian Commentary 
on the Epistle to the Romans."* Gibbon little knew 
what lights would rise after him. 

Once more. Paul says, Eph. i. 3, 5, "Blessed be 
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who 
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly 
places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in 
him before the foundation of the world, that we should 
be holy, and without blame before him in love, having 
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus 
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of 
his will." 

The Rev. R. Watson commenting on this passage, 
admits that the Apostle speaks of an election "as the 
means of faith, and of faith as the end of election," 
but he contends, that he does not speak of personal 
election, but of " the collective election of the whole 
body of Christians." The Apostle, he says, speaks 
of the election of believing Jews and Gentiles into the 
Church of God, in other words, of the eternal purpose 
of God, upon the publication of the gospel, to consti- 
tute his visible Church no longer upon the ground of 
natural descent from Abraham, but upon the founda- 
tion of faith in Christ."')" 

* Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chap, xxiii. 
f Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxvi. 



NO SCRIPTURE CAN TEACH PREDESTINATION. 161 

To this we reply, that the Apostle says not a word 
about " constituting his visible church." He speaks 
first of an election to holiness, or of our being " chosen 
that we should be holy and without blame before God, 
in love." But as holiness and love are strictly per- 
sonal, an election to holiness and love can be nothing 
else than personal election. 

Again, this is an election " to the adoption of chil- 
dren." But believers, as individuals, and such only, 
are adopted as God's children. Therefore the election 
of them "unto the adoption of children," must be 
personal, and must take place before they are chil- 
dren. Moreover, the Apostle uses the personal pro- 
noun, us, showing that he meant to speak of persons 
only, and not of Jews and Gentiles generally. 

Besides, the exposition of Mr. Watson is contra- 
dictory; for while he admits that it is an election 
" as the means of faith, and of faith as the end of 
election," he contends that it is an election " of be- 
lieving Jews and Gentiles, into the Church of God." 
But if it is an election of believers, it is an election of 
those who have faith; and if so, how can it be "an 
election as the means of faith." 

In the volume of Methodist Doctrinal Tracts we 
find the following, on pages 136, 137, 138, viz. 

"The Scripture saith, Eph. i. 4, 'God hath chosen 
us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that 
we should be holy, and without blame before him in 
love.' And St. Peter calls the saints, 1 Pet. i. 2, ' elect 
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, 
through sanctification of the Spirit unto, obedience.' 
And St. Paul saith unto them, 2 Thess. ii. 13, 
14, ' God hath from the beginning chosen you 
to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, 
and belief of the truth; whereunto he hath call- 
ed you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory 
of our Lord Jesus Christ.' From all these places 
14* 



162 NO SCRIPTURE CAN TEACH PREDESTINATION. 

of Scripture it is plain, that God has chosen some 
to life and glory, before, or from the foundation of 
the world." 

So Calvinists think, but Arminians hold to two 
sides at least of every question. And so they 
immediately enter upon a course of reasoning from 
which they conclude — "It is plain, they were not 
chosen from the foundation of the world." Now 
surely, if one of these is plain, the other is not plain, 
and if one of them is true, the other is not true. 
Let us see: To make out their case they say, "God 
saith to Abraham," Rom. iv. 17, 'As it is written, 
I have made thee a father of many nations, before 
him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the 
dead and calleth things that are not as though they 
were.' Observe, God speaks then at that present 
time to Abraham, saying, 'I have made thee a 
father of many nations!' The Apostle tells us 
plainly, it was ' so before God, who calleth things that 
are not, as though they were.' And so he calleth 
Abraham the father of many nations, though he was 
not as yet the father even of Isaac, in whom his seed 
was to be called. God useth the same manner when 
he calleth Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation 
of the world, Rev. xiii. 8, although he was not slain 
for some thousand years after. Hence therefore, we 
may easily understand what he speaks of electing us 
from the foundation of the world. God calleth 
Abraham a father of many nations, though not so at 
that time. He calleth Christ the Lamb, slain from 
the foundation of the world, though not slain till he 
was a man in the flesh. Even so he calleth men 
elected from the foundation of the world, though not 
elected till they were men in the flesh. Yet it is all 
so, before God, who knowing all things from eternity, 
calleth things that are not as though they were. By 
all which it is plain, that as Christ was called the 



NO SCRIPTURE CAN TEACH PREDESTINATION. 1G3 

Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and 
yet not slain till some thousand years after, till the 
day of his death: so also men are called elect from 
the foundation of the world, and yet not elected per- 
haps till some thousand years after, till the day of 
their conversion to God," &c. And thus they come 
to the conclusion, "It is plain then, neither were 
they chosen before the foundation of the world." 
That is, a flat contradiction of a previous conclusion, 
viz. that they were chosen. 

It is admitted, however, that it was known they 
would be chosen. A. proposes to give to each of his 
sons, B. and C, a farm, when they reach the age of 
twenty one, giving to B., the choice. B. replies, "I 
know very well which I will choose." Can any one 
separate the knowledge of B. from his choice, or tell 
how he could know which farm he would choose, un- 
less he had chosen it? It will not be denied that at 
the time spoken of, Abraham was designated to what 
others were not; that at the time spoken of, Christ 
was designated to what others were not, just as Cyrus 
was named and designated to rebuild the temple, long 
before he was born; and that at the time spoken of, 
the elect were designated to what others were not. 
Away then with a mere play upon words, where the 
meaning is plain. 

When, therefore, Mr. Wesley and the General Con- 
ference say, u no Scripture can teach predestination," 
they ought to have added, "Namely, after it has 
passed through the Arminian crucible." 

But why is not the same liberality of interpretation 
extended to the Confession of Faith also? It would 
steer wide of predestination either there, or in Calvin's 
Institutes, or in any Calvinistic authority that was ever 
written, and thus end the Calvinistic controversy. 
An intimate friend of ours was once conversing with 
an Arminian about some of the doctrines contained 



164 INFANT DAMNATION. 

in the Confession of Faith. The latter remarked, that 
there were doctrines in that book he could not receive. 
Well, said our friend, suppose I read some out of it. 
Accordingly, he commenced reading ; but although, 
after a few sentences, he read nothing but the pas- 
sages of Scripture given, in proof of the Confession, 
the Arminian said he "could not believe them." 

Having noticed one objection to the doctrine of 
predestination, we proceed to a second, viz. "It leads 
to the idea of infant damnation;"* "brings with it 
the repulsive and shocking opinion of the eternal 
punishment of infants ;"f "causes not only children 
not a span long, but the parents also, to pass through 
the fires of hell. "J 

The above are samples of the manner in which this 
charge is reiterated by every controversial Arminian 
author that has come under our notice. The reader 
will be surprised to learn that the "shocking and re- 
pulsive doctrine" here objected to, is taught by Ar- 
minians, but not by Calvinists, and in the Methodist, 
but not in the Presbyterian Church. 

In "the Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church," the prayer before administering 
the ordinance of infant baptism, closes as follows, viz. 
"Regard, we beseech thee, the supplications of thy 
congregation; sanctify this water for this holy sacra- 
ment, and grant that this child now to be baptized 
may receive the fulness of thy grace, and ever remain 
in the number of thy faithful and elect children, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord." 

" May ever remain in the number of thy faithful 
and elect children." We have already seen, that ac- 
cording to Arminians, converted persons, and they 
only, are "chosen to salvation." And that they are 

* Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. 

f Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxvi. 

j Doctrinal Tracts, page 173. 



INFANT DAMNATION. 165 

not "chosen" till after their conversion. The prayer 
then "that the child to be baptized may receive the 
fulness of grace and ever remain in the number of thy 
faithful and elect children," supposes that by baptism 
it is brought into that number, or in other words, is 
regenerated. That this is its meaning, appears from 
the fact that such was the sentiment of Mr. Wesley, 
who composed the prayer. 

In his sermon on "The Marks of the New Birth," 
addressing his hearers, he asks, "Who denies that ye 
were then (in baptism,) made children of God, and 
heirs of the kingdom of heaven." 

In his sermon on " The New Birth," he says, " It 
is certain our Church supposes that all who are baptized 
in their infancy, are at the same time born again." 

In his "Treatise on Baptism," (which is now one 
of the "Doctrinal Tracts" of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church,) speaking of "the benefits we receive by 
baptism," he says, "The first of these is the washing 
away the guilt of original sin, by the application of 
the merits of Christ's death," &c. 2. "By baptism we 
enter into covenant with God," &c. 3. " By baptism 
we are admitted into the Church, and consequently 
made members of Christ, its head," &c. 4. "By 
baptism, we who were ' by nature children of wrath,' 
are made the children of God. And this regeneration, 
which our Church, in so many places ascribes to bap- 
tism, is more than barely being admitted into the 
Church, though commonly connected therewith; being 
grafted into the body of Christ's Church, we are made 
the children of God by adoption and grace. This is 
grounded on the plain words of our Lord, 'Except a 
man be born again, of water and the Spirit, he cannot 
enter into the kingdom of God.' John iii. 5. By 
water then, as a means, the water of baptism, we are 
regenerated, or born again; whence it is called also by 
the apostle, 'the washing of regeneration.' Our 



166 INFANT DAMNATION. 

Church, therefore, ascribes no greater virtue to bap- 
tism than Christ himself has done; nor does she as- 
cribe it to the outward washing, but to the inward 
grace, which added thereto makes it a sacrament. 
Herein a principle of grace is infused, which will not 
be wholly taken away, unless we quench the Holy 
Spirit of God by long continued wickedness." 

Again, he says, "In the ordinary way, there is no 
other means of entering into the Church or into hea- 
ven" (than by baptism.) "In all ages, the outward 
baptism is a means of the inward; as outward circum- 
cision was of the circumcision of the heart."* 

The meaning of the prayer quoted, is thus placed 
beyond a doubt ; and the doctrine of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church on this subject, according to their 
own standards, is, that those who are baptized in in- 
fancy are regenerated, elected to salvation, and dying 
in infancy are saved. Of course then, those who are 
not baptized, are not regenerated, or elected to sal- 
vation, and dying in infancy are lost ; and so say the 
Doctrinal Tracts, page 251, " If infants are guilty of 
original sin, then they are proper subjects of baptism ; 
seeing, in the ordinary way, they cannot be saved, 
unless this be washed away by baptism." 

By way of apology for Mr. Wesley, it is stated, in 
a note to the second head of his Treatise on Baptism, 
that " as a clergyman of the Church of England, he 
was originally a High-churchman in the fullest sense." 
That " when he wrote this in the year 1756, he seems 
still to have used some expressions, in relation to the 
doctrine of baptismal regeneration, which we at this 
day should not prefer." That "some such, in the 
judgment of the reader, may be found under this 
second head."f 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 246—250. f Ibid. p. 249. 



INFANT DAMNATION. 1G7 

To this we reply, 

1. That Mr. Wesley was no more of a High-church- 
man when he wrote the "Treatise on Baptism," than 
when he wrote the prayer at baptism, for the quota- 
tions from the former are nothing more than an ex- 
planation of the latter. But then, the Methodist 
Episcopal Church have adopted the prayer and the 
treatise also. 

2. Although there is an explanatory note for what 
is contained in the second head, there is no such note 
for what is contained under the third. As then, they 
teach under that head, infant reprobation, and in the 
same volume of Tracts, pages 11, 12, 16, say that 
"unconditional election necessarily implies uncondi- 
tional reprobation," according to themselves they 
must hold to the former, for they hold to the latter, 
which they say " cannot be separated from it." That 
is, they hold that unbaptized infants are reprobated 
to damnation. 

3. If Mr. Wesley was a High-churchman when he 
wrote that Treatise, he was a High-churchman all his 
days, for it is found unaltered and without note, in the 
latest edition of his works, revised and corrected by 
himself. 

4. If Mr. Wesley was a High-churchman when he 
wrote the Treatise, the Methodist Episcopal Church 
is High-church also, for they have transferred it to 
their volume of "Doctrinal Tracts," and thus adopt- 
ed it. 

I know it has been stated, that this Treatise was 
slipped into that volume by some unknown hand, and 
without being noticed, has been suffered to continue 
there. 

To this we reply, 

1. It seems extremely improbable, that in so large 
a body as the Methodist Church, it should escape no- 



168 INFANT DAMNATION. 

tice for more than eighteen years, if it was there by 
stealth. 

2. It is published in a stereotyped edition, and its 
contents named in the latest catalogue of the Book 
Concern. It does not seem fair, therefore, to set aside 
by such suggestions, the following statement on the 
title page, viz. " A collection of interesting Tracts, 
explaining several important points of Scripture doc- 
trine, published by order of the General Conference, 
by Gr. Lane and C. B. Tippet, for the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, 1850." Also, the following from the 
advertisement, viz. " Several new Tracts are included 
in this volume, and Mr. Wesley's Short Treatise on 
Baptism, is substituted in the place of the extract 
from Mr. Edwards on that subject." 

The eternal damnation of by far the greater part 
of those who die in infancy, is therefore a doctrine 
clearly contained in the "Book of Discipline and Ar- 
ticles of Religion," and in the "Doctrinal Tracts" of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Having shown that infant damnation is a doctrine 
of Arminians, we will show next, that it is not a doc- 
trine of Calvinists. And here we may remark, that 
the Westminster Assembly of divines were careful not 
to make that a part of their written Creed about 
which the Scriptures are silent; hence they set down 
nothing as a part of their Confession of Faith, for 
which they did not believe they had a "thus saith the 
Lord." Finding the Scriptures silent in relation to 
the salvation of many who die in infancy, they are 
silent also. But finding the Scriptures clear, in re- 
ference to the salvation of some who die in infancy, 
they express themselves accordingly. The Calvinistic 
writer cannot be found, who teaches the perdition of 
any one who dies in infancy. 

The only authority in the Presbyterian Church on 
which the charge is based, is a passage in the tenth 



INFANT DAMNATION. 169 

chapter of the Confession of Faith. It is designed 
to explain the subject of "effectual calling;" and as 
infants cannot be called by the external ministration 
of the word, the question naturally arises, In what 
manner consistent with God's method of mercy, can 
infants be saved? This is answered, Section 3d, as 
follows: "Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regene- 
rated and saved by Christ, through the Spirit, who 
worketh when, where, and how he pleaseth." 

From this passage our opponents argue thus: If 
some who die in infancy are elect, others dying in 
infancy are reprobate, or non elect. So according to 
these good brethren, when John, in his Second 
Epistle, addressing "the elect lady," speaks of "her 
elect sister," it follows that she must have had a 
reprobate sister also ! It need scarcely be said that 
the word elect, when used in Scripture with reference 
to salvation, does not signify, chosen out of a class 
or age, but out of the general mass of mankind, 
Thus, the "elect sister" mentioned, was not chosen 
with reference to a particular family, but out of the 
fallen race of Adam. In this scriptural sense, the 
term is uniformly employed in the Presbyterian Con- 
fession. When infants are styled elect, its obvious 
meaning is that they are elected out of the mass of 
human beings, and this is in perfect accordance with 
the opinion of Presbyterians, that "all who die in 
infancy, are elect unto salvation."* 

But says Mr. Watson, "That some of those who 
as they suppose, are under this sentence of reproba- 
tion, die in their infancy, is probably, what most Cal- 
vinists allow, and if their doctrine be received, cannot 
be denied; and it follows therefore, that all such 
infants are eternally lost."f 

* Fairchild's Unpopular Doctrines of the Bible, pp. 8G, 87. 
f Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxvi. 

15 



170 INFANT DAMNATION. 

"Is probably, what most Calvinists allow!" I 
answer, "Calvinists allow" no such thing. 

A few sentences previous to the above, the same 
writer says, " some Calvinists have, to get rid of the 
difficulty, consigned them to annihilation." 

Now if Mr. Watson, or any of his brethren, will 
tell who those Calvinists are, and sustain the asser- 
tion by quotations from their writings, they will add 
to the knowledge of Christendom. Till then, this 
may be set down, as one of the innumerable Arminian 
slanders, of which we will speak hereafter. 

The system of John Calvin, more than of any other 
Reformer, made special provision for the salvation of 
those dying in infancy, whether baptized or not. 
Previous to the Reformation, infant baptism was 
almost universal. From within one or two hundred 
years of the Apostles, those who maintained infant 
baptism, maintained baptismal regeneration, also. 
Hence they taught that the unbaptized could not be 
saved. This is the doctrine of Roman Catholics, 
High-church Episcopalians, and of the Methodist 
Church now; hence they baptize the children of all 
who apply for it, whether believers or unbelievers. 
John Calvin was the first after the Apostolic day to 
dispel the darkness. His followers have walked in 
his footsteps, and in accordance with the word of 
God, they baptize the children of professed believers 
only. 

Calvin, in his Institutes, Book IV., Chap. xvi. 
Sec. 31, represents an opponent as arguing "that all 
who do not believe on Christ, remain in spiritual 
death, and that the wrath of God, abideth on them, 
John iii. 36; that infants therefore, who are incapable 
of believing, must remain in their own condemna- 
tion." To this, says Calvin, "I answer, that Christ 
is not speaking of the general guilt in which all the 
descendants of Adam are involved, but only threaten- 



IRRESISTIBLE GRACE. 171 

ing the despisers of the gospel, who proudly and 
obstinately reject the grace that is offered them, and 
this has nothing to do with infants. I likewise 
oppose a contrary argument. All those whom Christ 
blesses are exempt from the curse of Adam and the 
wrath of God. And as it is known that infants were 
blessed of him, it follows that they are exempted 
from death." — See also, Book IV., Chap. xvi. Sec. 17, 
and Chap. xv. Sec. 20, 22. 

So then after all, it is Arminianism, and not Cal- 
vinism, that "leads to the idea of infant damnation," 
u brings with it the repulsive and shocking opinion of 
the eternal punishment of (all) infants," except the 
few that are baptized, and "causes not only children 
of a span long, but the parents also to pass through 
the fire of hell." Calvinism teaches that all infants 
dying in infancy, were " chosen to salvation, regen- 
erated, and saved by Christ." While Arminianism 
teaches that only the few who are baptized are elected 
to salvation, and dying in infancy go to heaven. " To 
state this doctrine in its true character is enough to 
chill one's blood. "* 

This gross, oft repeated, and long continued slander 
of Calvinists ought to be publicly withdrawn. 

A third objection to predestination is, that it neces- 
sarily involves the doctrine of irresistible grace. 

Thus says Mr. Wesley, "By the assistance of God 
I shall take your whole system together, viz. irresisti- 
ble grace for the elect," &c.f . 

Mr. Watson says, " An unguarded opinion, as to 
the irresistibility of grace, and the passiveness of man 
in conversion, has also been assumed, and made to 
give air of plausibility to the predestination scheme." 
Again, he says, " These premises also secure the 

* Calvinistic Controversy, page 47. 
f Doctrinal Tracts, page 50. 



172 IRRESISTIBLE GRACE. 

glory of our salvation to the grace of God ; but not by 
implying the Calvinistic notion of the continued and 
uninterrupted irresistibility of the influence of grace, 
and the passiveness of man, so as to deprive him of 
his agency."* 

Dr. Eisk says, " The doctrine of unconditional elec- 
tion necessarily implies irresistible grace, absolutely 
impelling and controlling the will."f 

Does the reader remember the teaching of these 
divines ? viz. "that there are exempt cases wherein the 
overwhelming power of divine grace does for a time 
work as irresistibly as lightning," "that men are 
sometimes suddenly and irresistibly awakened to a 
sense of their guilt and danger independent of any 
external means ;" " that the grace which bringeth faith, 
and thereby salvation into the soul, is irresistible at 
that moment;" and that "in some souls the grace of 
God is so far irresistible, that they cannot but believe, 
and be finally saved?" And yet these are the men 
who object to predestination, because, as they say, it 
"necessarily implies irresistible grace." 

I will next show, that according to their teaching, 
that doctrine does not imply such grace. 

" Of a divine election or choosing and separation 
from others," says Mr. Watson, "we have three kinds 
mentioned in the Scriptures. 

" The first is the election of individuals to perform 
some particular and special service; Cyrus was elected 
to rebuild the Temple ; the twelve Apostles were 
elected to their office by Christ; St. Paul was a chosen 
or elected vessel, to be the Apostle of the Gentiles. 

" The second kind of election which we find in 
Scripture, is the election of nations, or bodies of peo- 
ple, to eminent religious privileges, in order to accom- 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxvii. 
f Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon, 



IRRESISTIBLE GRACE. 173 

plish by their superior illumination, the merciful pur- 
poses of God, in benefiting other nations, or bodies of 
people. Thus the descendants of Abraham, the Jews, 
were chosen to receive special revelations of truth ; 
and to be the people of God; to be his visible Church, 
and publicly to observe and uphold his worship. 

" The third kind of election is personal election ; or 
the election of individuals, to be the children of God, 
and the heirs of eternal life."* 

Mr. Wesley says, "I believe that God, before the 
foundation of the world, did unconditionally elect cer- 
tain persons to do certain works; as Paul to preach 
the gospel ; that he has unconditionally elected some 
nations to receive peculiar privileges, as the Jewish na- 
tion in particular: that he has unconditionally elected 
some nations to hear the gospel, as England and 
Scotland now, and many others in past ages: that he 
has unconditionally elected some persons to many 
peculiar advantages, both with regard to temporal 
and spiritual things : and I do not deny, though I can- 
not prove it so, that he has unconditionally elected 
some persons to eternal glory. "f 

The first kind of election here mentioned, is that 
" of individuals to perform some particular service ;" 
thus " before the foundation of the world, Paul was 
unconditionally elected to preach the gospel." Did 
this unconditional election of Paul destroy his free 
agency? Let us first hear Paul himself. On his way 
to Damascus as a bitter persecutor, he received a mi- 
raculous call to the ministry. Referring to this, he 
says, Acts xxvi. 19, " I was not disobedient unto the 
heavenly vision." Again he says, 1 Cor. ix. 17, "If 
I do this thing willingly, I have a reward ;" evidently 
implying (as his whole life proved,) that he laboured 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxvi. 
f Wesley's Works, Vol. III. page 289. 

15* 



174 IRRESISTIBLE GRACE. 

most willingly, and in the full exercise of his free 
agency. 

Let us next hear l\Ir. Watson. " In the instance 
of the mightiest visitation we can produce from Scrip- 
ture, that of St. Paul, we see where the irresistible 
influence terminated, and where his own agency com- 
menced. Under the conviction struck into his mind, 
as well as under the dazzling brightness which fell 
upon his eyes, he was passive, and the effect produced 
for the time necessarily followed, but all the actions 
consequent upon this were the result of deliberation 
and personal choice."* 

Finally, let us hear Mr. Wesley: "Paul might have 
been either obedient or disobedient to the heavenly 
vision. "f 

If then " the unconditional election of Paul to 
preach the gospel did not imply irresistible grace, ab- 
solutely so impelling and controlling the will" that he 
could not have omitted to do what he was elected to 
do, neither was such grace implied in the uncondi- 
tional "election of Cyrus to rebuild the Temple," nor 
in the "unconditional election of some nations to pe- 
culiar privileges, nor in the unconditional election of 
some nations to hear the gospel," nor in the uncon- 
ditional election of "some persons to eternal life." 

That unconditional election, does imply efficacious 
grace, is what Calvinists believe and teach, but that 
it implies irresistible grace, is taught by Methodists 
only. 

We have already shown that according to the Con- 
fession of Faith, the decrees of God do not destroy, 
but establish the free agency of man — that God has 
decreed that man shall be free, and that he cannot be 
otherwise than free. If then there is any point in 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxviii. 
f Wesley's Works, Vol. III. page 289. 



IRRESISTIBLE GRACE. 175 

Calvinism where the grace of God is irresistible, it must 
be in effectual calling. In reference to this the 
Confession of Faith says, Chap. X. Sec. 1, "All 
those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and 
those only, he is pleased, in his appointed and ac- 
cepted time, effectually to call by his Word and Spirit 
out of the state of sin and death, in which they are by 
nature, to grace and salvation, by Jesus Christ; en- 
lightening their minds, spiritually, and savingly to 
understand the things of God, taking away their heart 
of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh ; re- 
newing their wills, and by his Almighty power deter- 
mining them to that which is good; and effectually 
drawing them to Jesus Christ ; yet so as they come 
most freely, being made willing by his grace." 

There is nothing in the Confession of Faith on the 
subject of effectual calling stronger than this. The 
teaching in the Larger and Shorter Catechism is the 
same. I will now show that the Confession of Faith 
is strictly in accordance with the Scriptures. 

1. The divine call is said to be made effectual "by 
enlightening their minds, spiritually and savingly, to 
understand the things of God." 

Accordingly when our Saviour met the persecuting 
Saul on his way to Damascus, (Acts xxvi. 16,) he ad- 
dressed him thus, "I have appeared unto thee, to 
make thee a minister to the gentiles, to open their 
eyes, to turn them from darkness unto light, and from 
the power of Satan unto God," 

Whenever, therefore, any of the fallen race of man 
are turned "from darkness to light, and from the 
power of Satan unto God," their eyes have been 
opened; that is, they received a spiritual illumination. 
Or, as our Saviour expresses it, John vi. 45, "They 
have been taught of God." And he further assures 
us that "every one who has been so taught, cometh 
unto him." 



176 IRRESISTIBLE GRACE. 

2. The divine call is rendered effectual "by taking 
away their hearts of stone and giving them a heart of 
flesh." 

Thus the Apostle John, speaking of the regenerate, 
says, they " were born not of blood, nor of the will of 
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John i. 
13. And God by Ezekiel says, "I will take away the 
stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a 
heart of flesh." Ezek. xxxvi. 26. 

3. " By renewing their wills; and by his mighty 
power determining them to that which is good." 

Deut. xxx. 6, "The Lord thy God will circumcise 
thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the 
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy 
soul:" Ezek. xxx. 26, "A new heart will I give you, 
and a new spirit will I put within you." "The eyes 
of your understanding being enlightened that ye may 
know . . what is the exceeding greatness of his power 
to us-ward who believe, according to the working of 
his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he 
raised him from the dead." Eph. i. 18, &c. 

4. " And by effectually drawing them to Christ, so 
that they come most freely, being made willing by his 
grace." 

Thus, Jer. xxxi. 3, "I have loved thee with an ever- 
lasting love, therefore, with loving kindness have I 
drawn thee." Cant. i. 4, "Draw me, we will run 
after thee." Psalm ex. 3, "Thy people shall be will- 
ing in the day of thy power." Phil. ii. 13, "It is God 
that worketh in you both to will and to do of his 
own good pleasure." 

Thus it is seen that "the doctrine of unconditional 
election," as taught by Calvinists, does not "neces- 
sarily imply irresistible grace, absolutely impelling and 
controlling the will," though as taught by Methodists, 
it does. A single illustration, and we pass on. When 
Jacob was on his return from Padan-aram, Gen. xxxii. 



PREDESTINATION MAKES GOD PARTIAL, ETC. 177 

24, Esau, his enraged brother, at the head of four 
hundred men, came out against him. In this exigency 
the patriarch, having sent before a present to appease 
the wrath of the enemy, spent the night in prayer. 
What was the result? Why Esau, instead of meeting 
him with a drawn sword, as he had intended, ran as 
soon as he saw him, and fell upon his neck, and em- 
braced him. 

Does any one suppose his free agency was destroy- 
ed? Here then, we have an instance of all conquer- 
ing grace. "The king's heart is in the hand of the 
Lord, and he turneth it whithersoever he will." "It 
is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of 
his own good pleasure." There is a sense, it is true, 
in which the charms of Christ are made irresistible, 
but 0, it is a sweet constraint. 

"'TAvas the same love that spread the feast, 
That sweetly forced us in; 

Else we bad still refused to taste, 
And perished in our sin." 

A fourth objection to the doctrine of predestination 
is, that it "makes God partial." 

Thus says Dr. Fisk, in his Calvinistic Controversy, 
page 50, "The doctrine we oppose makes God partial, 
and a respecter of persons." 

Mr. Watson says, " It cannot be reconciled with 
that frequent declaration of Scripture, that God is no 
respecter of persons."* 

Mr. Wesley says, " You contradict the whole ora- 
cles of God, w T hich declare throughout, God is no re- 
specter of persons." Acts x. 34. "There is no re- 
spect of persons with him." Rom. ii. 11. f 

Here then is the charge, let us notice next, the 
admission of those who make it. 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxvi. 
f Doctrinal Tracts, page 1GG. 



178 PREDESTINATION MAKES GCD 

The Rev. E. Watson, speaking of the ninth chap- 
ter of Romans, says, " We have in it several instances 
of unconditional election. Such was that of Jacob 
to the exclusion of Esau, -which election was declared 
when the children were yet in the womb, before they 
had done good or evil, so that the blessing of the spe- 
cial covenant did not descend upon the posterity of 
Jacob because of righteousness in their progenitor. 
In like manner when Almighty God determined no 
longer to found his visible Church upon natural de- 
scent from Abraham in the line of Isaac and Jacob, 
nor in any line according to the flesh, but to make 
faith in his Son Jesus Christ the gate of admission 
into this privilege, he acted according to the same 
sovereign pleasure. A man of Macedonia appears to 
Paul in a vision by night, and cries, ' Come over into 
Macedonia, and help us.' But we have no reason to 
believe that the Macedonians were better than other 
gentiles, although they were elected to the privilege 
and advantages of evangelical ordinances. So in 
modern times, parts of Hindostan have been elected 
to receive the gospel, and yet its inhabitants present- 
ed nothing more worthy of this election than the peo- 
ple of Thibet or California, who have not been so 
elected."* 

Mr. Wesley, it has been already shown, teaches 
the same doctrine. Here then it is admitted that 
God does more for the temporal and spiritual advan- 
tages of some nations than he does for others. It is 
admitted also, that this bestowment of his favours is 
sovereign and unconditional — that is, it does not rest 
on superior goodness. 

Dr. Scott truly remarks, that " the doctrine of per- 
sonal election to eternal life, when properly stated, 
lies open to no objection, which may not likewise with 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxvi. 



TARTIAL AND UNJUST. 179 

equal plausibility be urged against the conduct of God, in 
placing one nation in a more favourable condition than 
another, especially as to religious advantages; with- 
out the good or bad behaviour of either of them, or 
any discernible reason for the preference. In both 
cases we may say unmerited favour to one person or 
people is no injustice to others; and the infinitely 
wise God hath many reasons for his determinations, 
which we cannot discern, and which he designs not to 
make known to us."* 

These divines however go a step further, and teach 
the doctrine of personal, unconditional election itself, 
as has been shown. 

3. They teach again, that God does more for some 
than he does for others in the efficacy of the divine 
call, as has been shown. And yet these are the men 
who object to predestination, because (as they say,) 
" it makes God partial, and a respecter of persons." 

4. The passages of Scripture cited to prove that 
" God is no respecter of persons," do not teach that 
he does not do more for some than he does for others. 

The first is contained in Acts x. 34. The occasion 
of it was this. The Apostles, as Jews, under their 
carnal prejudices, did not suppose "the Gentiles 
should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and par- 
takers of the promise of God, in Christ, by the gos- 
pel." But the Apostle Peter, having received a di- 
vine intimation to the contrary, said to the Roman 
Centurion, who had sent for h,irn, "Ye know that it 
is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew, to keep 
company, or to come unto one that is of another na- 
tion; but God hath showed me that I should not call 
any man common or unclean." Acts x. 28. And 
when he heard the revelation Cornelius had received, 
he said, "of a truth, I perceive that God is no re- 

* Force of Truth, page 95. 



180 PREDESTINATION MAKES GOD 

specter of persons ; but in every nation he that fear- 
eth him and worketh righteousness, is accepted of 
him." Acts x. 34, 35. Thus teaching (not that he 
does not do more for some than he does for others, 
but) that "in every nation he that feareth him and 
worketh righteousness is accepted of him." The pas- 
sage in Romans has the same meaning. 

A fifth objection to predestination, is that it de- 
stroys the justice of God. 

Thus say the Doctrinal Tracts, page 32: " This is 
the present objection against unconditional reproba- 
tion, (the plain consequence of unconditional election,) 
it flatly contradicts, indeed, utterly overthrows the 
Scripture account of the justice of God." 

The Rev. R. Watson says, " It is manifestly con- 
trary to his justice."* 

Mr. Wesley says, " It destroys all his attributes at 
once. It overturns, both his justice, mercy, and truth. 
Yea, it represents the most holy God as worse than 
the devil, as both more false, more cruel, and more 
unjust, "f 

Let us see. In the Doctrinal Tracts they say, 
page 246, " We are all born under the guilt of Adam's 
sin, and all sin deserves eternal misery." 

Mr. Watson says, " The full penalty of Adam's 
offence passed upon his posterity. A full provi- 
sion to meet the case is indeed made in the gospel, 
but that does not affect the state in which men are 
born." 

In the Minutes of the Fourth Annual Conference, 
of the Methodists of England, of which Mr. Wesley 
was the soul, in answer to the question, "Can an 
unbeliever (whatever he be in other respects,) challenge 
anything of the justice of God? they say absolutely 



* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxvi. 
f Sermon on Free Grace. 



PARTIAL AND UNJUST. 181 

nothing but hell. And this is a point which we can- 
not too much insist on."* 

Mr. Watson says again, "The only relation in 
which an offended sovereign and a guilty subject 
could stand in mere justice, was that of a judge and a 
criminal capitally convicted." "The penalty of 
transgression is death; this is too plainly written in 
the Scriptures to be denied. And if it were right to 
attach that penalty to offence, it is most certainly 
righteous to execute it." 

The above quotations, (which might be greatly 
enlarged,) are strictly Calvinistic and strictly scrip- 
tural. 

In accordance with them, Dr. A. Clarke says in his 
Theology, page 76, " God dispenses his benefits, 
when, where, and to whom he pleases. No person 
can complain of his conduct in these respects, because 
no person deserves any good from his hands." 

The Rev. R. Watson says, Theological Institutes, 
Part II. Chap, xxvi., "God has a right to select 
whom he pleases to enjoy special privileges; in this 
there is no unrighteousness, and therefore in limiting 
these favours to such branches of Abraham's seed, as 
he choose to select, neither his justice nor his truth is 
impeached." 

Again, speaking of "the new election into his 
church of believers, both of Jews and Gentiles," he 
says in the same chapter, "God had the unquestion- 
able right of forming a new believing people, not of 
Jews only, but also of Gentiles, and of filling them as 
vessels of honour with those riches, that fulness of 
glory, as his now acknowledged Church, for which he 
had afore-prepared them by faith, the only ground of 
their admission into the new covenant." 

Of course then, if God "forms a believing people, 

* Whitehead's Life of Wesley, page 138. 

16 



182 PREDESTINATION MAKES GOD 

and prepares them by faith, for admission into the 
new covenant," he must "select whom he pleases to 
enjoy" this "special privilege," and Mr. Watson tells 
us, that "God had the unquestionable right of form- 
ing a new believing people," &c. 

The above reasoning is certainly conclusive from 
the premises, and the premises are undoubtedly 
sound, Calvinistic and scriptural. 

But does not this imply the doctrine of reproba- 
tion? Let us see. The sovereign people of these 
United States elect their President, but in doing this, 
they do nothing more than they have a right to do; 
viz. "to select whom they please to enjoy special 
privileges." Nor in doing this do they make the con- 
dition of those not elected, any worse than it was 
before. The sovereign people of the several States 
elect whom they please to be their civil officers, nor 
in doing this do they do the non-elect any injury, or 
make their condition any worse than it was before. 
Now surely God, without being " worse than the devil," 
may be as sovereign and free as man, and elect whom 
he pleases to eternal life; nor in doing this, do the 
non-elect any injury, or make their condition worse 
than it was before. 

Again, if the sovereign people of these United 
States do not elect a President, we will have no 
President ; and if the sovereign people of the several 
States do not elect their civil officers, we will have no 
officers. And if God does not elect sinners to salva- 
tion, and give them spiritual life, not a sinner would 
be saved. The hopes then of the Church, and of a 
fallen world, are suspended on the doctrine of per- 
sonal, sovereign, and unconditional election. Where 
then is the monster to destroy it, and close the gate 
of Paradise against all the children of Adam? 

Once more. Although none but the elect can be 
President, and none but the elect can be civil officers, 



PARTIAL AND UNJUST. 183 

be they never so anxious; "whosoever will, may par- 
take of the waters of life freely," Rev. xx. 17, and 
"him that cometh unto Christ, he will in no wise cast 
out." John vi. 37. 

It has already been shown that all are sinners, and 
that "all sin deserves eternal misery;" that "the 
penalty of transgression is death;" and that if it 
were right to attach that penalty to offence, it is most 
certainly righteous to execute it." Where then is the 
unrighteousness towards the guilty, "in passing them 
by," according to the Confession of Faith, "and 
ordaining them to dishonour and wrath for their sin? 

Does this "make God worse than the devil, more 
false, more unholy, more unjust," because Presby- 
terians teach it? Is Calvinism to be tolerated no 
where out of the Methodist Church? 

The following remarks of Dr. Thomas Scott are so 
excellent, that I will take the liberty of transcribing 
them : 

"If sinners deserve the punishment inflicted on 
them, it cannot be unjust in the great Governor of 
the world to pre-determine their condemnation to it. 
The contrariety to justice and goodness, if there be 
any, must certainly be found in the Lord's actually 
dealing with his creatures, and not in his pre-determi- 
nation thus to deal with them. It could not be incon- 
sistent with any of the divine attributes, for the Lord 
from all eternity to decree to act consistently with 
all of them. The clamours excited against predesti- 
nation, if carefully scrutinized, are generally found 
to be against the thing decreed, and not against the 
circumstance of its having been decreed from eternity. 
The sovereignty of God, when duly considered, 
appears to be nothing more than infinite perfection 
determining and accomplishing everything in the best 
manner possible ; and infallibly performing the coun- 
sels of everlasting knowledge and wisdom, justice, 



184 UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION 

truth, and love, notwithstanding all the plans and 
designs of innumerable voluntary rational agents, 
which might seem incompatible with them: nay, per- 
forming those counsels even by means of these volun- 
tary agents, in perfect consistency with their free 
agency and accountableness; but in a manner which 
we are utterly incapable of comprehending."* 

But says Dr. Fisk, "All who hold to the uncondi- 
tional election of a part of mankind to eternal life, 
must, to be consistent with themselves, take into their 
creed the horrible decree of reprobation. They 
must believe that in the ages of eternity, God deter- 
mined to create men and angels on purpose to damn 
them eternally."f 

"Unconditional election I cannot believe," says 
Wesley, " not only because I cannot find it in Scrip- 
ture, but also because it necessarily implies uncondi- 
tional reprobation."! 

To this we reply, 

1. That personal, unconditional election (as we 
have seen) is taught in books published by, and en- 
dorsed by the General Conference. 

2. That the Doctrinal Tracts of the Methodist 
Church, do teach the doctrine of reprobation in con- 
nection with the doctrine of election. Thus on pages 
139, 140, they say, " The Scriptures tell us plainly 
what predestination is : it is God's fore-appointing 
obedient believers to salvation, not without, but ac^ 
cording to his foreknowledge of all their works from 
the foundation of the world. And so likewise, he pre- 
destinates or fore-appoints all disobedient unbelievers 
to damnation, not without, but according to his fore- 
knowledge of all their works from the foundation of 
the world." 

* Force of Truth, page 95. 

f Calvinistic Controversy, page 47. 

% Doctrinal Tracts, page 16. 



IMPLIES REPROBATION. 185 

" We may consider this a little further. God, 
before the foundation of the world, foreknew all 
men's believing, or disbelieving, and according to 
this his foreknowledge, he chose, or elected all 
obedient believers, as such, to salvation, and refused, 
or reprobated all disobedient unbelievers, as such, 
to damnation. Thus the Scriptures teach us to 
consider election and reprobation according to the 
foreknowledge of God from the foundation of the 
world." 

On these extracts I observe^ in the language of 
another, 

1. " It is asserted that some men will live and die 
'disobedient unbelievers.' 

2. " That God had a perfect 'foreknowledge of all 
their works from the foundation of the world.' 

3. "It follows, that he perfectly foreknew their 
character, names, and number: these were certainly 
known, i. e., immutably certain, as God could not 
mistake a single name, or miscount a single unit of 
the precise number of c the disobedient unbelievers' 
who are 'fore-appointed to damnation.' 

4. " These ' disobedient unbelievers' thus infalli- 
bly known, by works, character, names, number, 
God has ' predestinated, or fore-appointed to damna- 
tion !' 

5. " This ' predestination to damnation' of the 
precise number of * disobedient unbelievers, was from 
eternity, or ' according to God's foreknowledge of 
their works from the foundation of the world.' 

6. "This 'fore-appointment or refusal' of the exact 
number of * disobedient unbelievers,' this decree of 
reprobation was passed before they were born, and, 
of course, 'before they had done either good or evil.' 
Thus 'some men are born, devoted from the womb to 
eternal death.' What then is the use of preaching to 
them, praying for them, &c. 

1(3* 



186 PREDESTINATION MAKES GOD A SINNER. 

7. " t This eternal decree' of reprobation (we are 
told in the same volume, page 15,) ' God will not 
change, and man cannot resist !' So that the Ar- 
minian decree of reprobation is not only eternal, but 
irresistible and unchangeable ! 

8. " These ' disobedient unbelievers' are thus 
particularly and unchangeably designed, and their 
number is so certain, and definite, that it cannot be 
either increased or diminished, unless God may be 
mistaken. 

9. " ' How uncomfortable a thought is this,' say 
the Doctrinal Tracts, ' that thousands and millions of 
men, without any preceding offence, or fault of 
theirs, were unchangeably doomed to everlasting 
burnings ! How peculiarly uncomfortable must it be 
to those who have put on Christ? To those who, 
being filled with 'bowels of mercy, tenderness, and 
compassion, could even wish themselves accursed for 
their brethren's sake.' " Page 163. 

When, therefore, Dr. Fisk says, "Reprobation is 
kept out of sight, and yet it is as heartily believed 
by modern Calvinists, as it was by John Calvin him- 
self; it is taught too, but it is taught covertly,"* to 
make his statement true, he should have substituted 
Arminians for Calvinists. 

And now we ask, what must be thought of those 
who make such an outcry about the difficulties of Cal- 
vinism, who at the same time avow such a scheme as 
they give us? 

But says Dr. Fisk in his Calvinistic Controversy, 
page 21, " This doctrine of predestination makes God 
the author of sin." 

Again, page 22, "It would add much to the 
consistency of this system, if all its advocates 
would acknowledge what is evidently deducible from 

* Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. 



PREDESTINATION MAKES (JOD A SINNER. 187 

the premises, that God is the efficient author of 
sin." 

As this objection is found in all Arminian writers, 
let these quotations from Dr. Fisk, suffice for the 
whole. 

We have already shown that the Confession of 
Faith makes the distinction between the positive and 
permissive decrees of God, and that according to 
Messrs. Wesley, Watson, Dr. Clarke, and Mrs. Rod- 
gers, who teach the doctrine of the divine decrees as 
it is taught in the Confession of Faith, "that distinc- 
tion involves no such consequences." We therefore 
now state the objection that we may give one speci- 
men of what the objectors teach themselves. 

Thus the Rev. R. Watson, in his exposition of 
Matt. xxvi. 63, "Jesus held his peace," says, "He 
knew that the wisdom of God, had appointed that he 
should be found guilty, upon a charge which was in 
fact the great truth, by which he was glorified, name- 
ly, that he professed to be the Son of God."* 

Now let us take the usual course of Arminian argu- 
mentation. 

Christ was charged with "professing to be the Son 
of God." "The wisdom of God had appointed that 
he should be found guilty upon the charge." But if 
it was appointed by God that it should be, it could 
not be otherwise. As then Christ was condemned 
and slain by wicked hands," Matt, xxiii. 24, Acts ii. 
23, and this was the appointment of God, God is the 
author of sin. 

Would it not be well for Arminians to give the 
public an expurgated edition of their own writings? 

A sixth objection to personal, unconditional elec- 
tion, is, that "If it be true, then all preaching is 
vain. It is needless to them that are elected, for 

* Comment on the New Testament. 



188 PREDESTINATION MAKES GOD A SINNER. 

they, whether with or without preaching, will infalli- 
bly be saved. Therefore, the end of preaching to 
save souls is vain in regard to them. And it is use- 
less to them that are not elected, for they cannot 
possibly be saved. They, whether with or without 
preaching, will infallibly be damned," &c* 

The Presbyterian Confession of Faith says, Chap. 
iii. Sec. 6, "As God hath appointed the elect unto 
glory, so hath he by the eternal and most free counsel 
of his will, foreordained all the means thereto." 

Accordingly, when Paul and his companions "were 
exceedingly tossed by a tempest, and neither sun nor 
stars in many days appeared, and all hope that they 
should be saved was taken away, Paul, after a long 
abstinence, stood forth in the midst of them and said: 
I exhort you to be of good cheer, for there shall be 
no loss of any man's life, but of the ship. For there 
stood by me this night an angel of God .... saying, 
fear not Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar, 
and lo! God hath given thee all them that sail with 
thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer, for I believe 
God, that it shall be even as it was told me."f 

From this it appears that Paul and his conlpanions 
were elected to be saved ; and this having been 
announced by an angel of God, was infallibly certain. 
Yet when the shipmen were about to flee out of the 
ship, and had let down the boat into the sea, under 
colour, as though they would have cast anchors out of 
the foreship, Paul said to the centurion, "Except 
these abide in the ship ye cannot be saved." Now 
suppose an Arminian objector had been present, 
wonld he not have exclaimed, What do you mean 
Paul? Did you not just tell us we should all be 
saved; and that an angel had told you so? What 
matters it, therefore, whether these go or stay? If 
we are to be saved w r e will be saved. 

* Doctrinal Tracts, page 159. f Acts xxvii. 18, &c. 



PREDESTINATION MAKES GOD A SINNER. 189 

"Nay, but man, who art thou that repliest 
against God." " As God hath appointed salvation as 
the end, so hath he by the eternal, and most free coun- 
sel of his will, foreordained all the means thereto." 
These sailors are necessary to manage and take 
care of the ship. "What, therefore, God hath joined 
together, let not man put asunder." The centurion 
believed Paul — the sailors were retained in the ship 
until the proper time, and then "they that could swim 
first cast themselves into the sea, and got to land, and 
the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces 
of the ship. And so it came to pass that they all es- 
caped as the angel declared." 

The above case, it is true, refers to an election to 
salvation from a temporal death, but the same prin- 
ciple holds good in reference to an election to salva- 
tion from eternal death. 

Luke, speaking of Paul's ministry at Antioch, says, 
Acts xiii. 44 — 48, " And the next Sabbath-day, 
came almost the whole city to hear the word of God; 
. . . and as many as were ordained to eternal life 
believed." 

"As many as were ordained to eternal life" — there 
is election. "Believed" — there is faith consequent 
upon their election, and so election is not conditional, 
or on account of faith. " Almost the whole city came 
to hear the word of God" — there is the preaching of 
the- gospel, the appointed means by which "as many 
as are ordained to eternal life .believe." 

The same writer speaking of the preaching of the 
same Apostle, amid great opposition at Corinth, says, 
Acts xviii. 7, &c, "Then spake the word of the Lord 
to Paul, in the night by a vision, saying 'Be not 
afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace, for I am 
with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee, 
for I have much people in this city." 

"I have much people in this city" — there is elec- 
tion. " Speak and hold not ,thy peace" — there is 



190 RENDERS THE MEANS OF GRACE USELESS. 

the gospel, the appointed means to bring the elect to 
Christ. 

Rev. Richard Watson, commenting on this passage, 
says, "It may mean, that there were many serious 
and well disposed inquirers among the Greeks at Co- 
rinth," who "manifested their readiness to receive 
the gospel when the Jews opposed and blasphemed. 
And it is not improbable that to such proselytes, who 
were in many places a people prepared of the Lord, 
reference is made when our Saviour, speaking to 
Paul in this vision, says, 'I have much people in this 
city.' "* 

To this we reply, that, "it may mean," "and it is 
probable," are grounds too slight to set aside the ob- 
vious meaning of a passage of Scripture. 

Again, 2 Tim. ii. 10, " I endure all things for the 
elect's sake, that they may obtain the salvation that 
is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." 

The distinction between " the salvation that is in 
Christ Jesus," and "eternal glory," shows that the 
former refers to what takes place in time, and the 
latter to what takes place in eternity. 

"That they may obtain the salvation that is in 
Christ Jesus." This teaches that election takes place 
before the elect have obtained that salvation, and so 
is not on account of it. "I endure all things for the 
elect's sake, that they may obtain," &c. There is the 
appointed means that the elect may obtain it. " For 
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be 
saved. But how shall they call on him in whom they 
have not believed, and how shall they believe in him 
of whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear 
without a preacher?" Rom. x. 13, 14. Thus we see 
the Confession of Faith sustained by the Bible. 

We have already seen that the doctrine of personal 

* Theological Institutes, pp. 509, 510. 



RENDERS THE MEANS OF GRACE USELESS. 191 

unconditional election is as distinctly tauglit in the Me- 
thodist Church as it is in the Presbyterian Confession 
of Faith. Accordingly we find that denomination, in 
accordance with that Calvinistic doctrine, " enduring 
much for the elect's sake, that they may obtain the 
salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." 
As then, the objection which they urge as Arminians 
is in the face of their Calvinism, their practice, and 
the Scriptures, it must fall to the ground. We will, 
therefore, proceed to a seventh objection. 

Thus they say in their Doctrinal Tracts, page 91, 
"Is a man careless, and unconcerned, utterly dead in 
trespasses and sins? Exhort him (suppose he is of 
your opinion) to take care of his immortal soul. I 
take care! says he. What signifies my care? Why, 
what must be, must be. If I am elected, I must be 
saved, and if I am not, I must be damned." 

"If I am one of the elect then I must and shall be 
saved; therefore, I may safely sin a little longer, for 
my salvation cannot fail."* 

"Man need do nothing but wait for irresistible 
grace, which, if he be elected, will come, though it be 
but in the last hour; and if he be reprobated, will 
never come, be his diligence and waiting what it 
can."f 

In reply to this, we may remark, first, that as to ir- 
resistible grace, that has been shown to be not a doc- 
trine of the Presbyterian, but a hyper-Calvinistic 
doctrine of the Methodist Church. Secondly, we 
have seen also where the doctrine of reprobation of 
right belongs. Divested of these doctrines of the Me- 
thodist Church, the objection involves, first: "The 
absurdity of supposing the accomplishment of an 
event without the means by which it is to be accom- 
plished. As if I should say, if I am to go to London, 

* Doctrinal Tracts, p. 9. f Ibid. p. 100. 



192 DESTROYS FREE AGENCY 

I shall go to London, whether I embark on a vessel 
or not. Or if we are to have a pleasant day to-mor- 
row, we shall have a pleasant day to-morrow, whether 
the sun shall rise o> not. Absurdity is thus stamped 
upon the face of the objection. Those who reach 
London must pass over the ocean; and if there be a 
pleasant day, the sun must rise. So those who are 
elected to salvation, as the end, must be prepared for 
it by 'the sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the 
truth, as the necessary means for the attainment of 
that end.' 'As God hath appointed the elect unto 
glory, so hath he foreordained all the means thereto.' " 

2. "This objection is not acted on in similar cases. 
Does the farmer say, if I am to have a crop this year, 
I will have a crop whether I cultivate my grounds or 
not ? Does another man say, If. I am to be rich, I 
shall be rich, whether I make any effort or not? Does 
the sick man say, if I am to get well, I will get well 
whether I take medicine or not? Oh no! they do not 
say so. And here it may be remarked, there is a pas- 
sage of Scripture just in point. Job, speaking of 
man's temporal life, says, 'his days are determined, 
the number of his months are with thee.; thou hast 
appointed his bounds that he cannot pass.' Jobxiv. 5. 

"But does the sick man say, since 'my days are 
determined, the number of my months is with him, he 
has appointed the bounds of my life that I cannot 
pass;' I will, therefore, send for no physician, take 
no medicine, nor make any effort to protract my life ? 
If I am to die of this disease, I must die, do what I 
will ; and if I am not to die of it, I cannot die, do what 
I may? Does the sick man say so? no! but he 
rather reasons thus : I know that God, as an infinite 
being, must know all things, and of course he must 
know the day of my death. But I have observed that 
there is generally a connection between the means and 
the end. I have seen persons die, evidently for want 



AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 193 

of medical aid ; and I have seen persons at the point 
of death restored to health, evidently by medical 
skill. This is enough for me. ' The secret things be- 
long to the Lord our God ; but those things which are 
revealed belong to us, and to our children for ever, 
that we may do all the words of this law.' Deut. xxix. 
29. This is enough. It is perfectly rational in the 
one case, why not in the other also?"* 

7. " This doctrine (of predestination) destroys the 
free agency, and of course, the accountability, of 
man."f " I object to the doctrine of decrees, as held 
by the Calvinists, because it is inconsistent with, and 
destructive of the free agency of man. The opposers 
of Messrs. Wesley and Fletcher violently assailed 
them on this head. Mr. Southey informs us, in his 
Life of Wesley, that the Calvinists called the doctrine 
of free will c a cursed doctrine' — * the most God-dis- 
honouring, and soul-destroying doctrine' — 'one of the 
prominent features of the beast' — ' the enemy of 
God' — 4 the offspring of the wicked one' — c the inso- 
lent brat of hell.' "J 

To this we reply, 

1. It is admitted by Arminians, that this objection 
applies with equal force against the Divine Omni- 
science; and to this objection they give a Calvinistic 
and very satisfactory answer. § It is, therefore, for 
them to say, why they urge it against the divine de- 
crees only. 

2. It was not " free will" in the sense of free 
agency, that Calvinists opposed, but " free will" ac- 
cording to the Arminian idea of a self-determining 
power of the will. Calvin, in his answer to Pigius, 
says: "With regard to the word, I repeat here what 

* Dr. Baker's Revival Sermons, pp. 295, 29G. 
f Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. 
J Foster's Objections to Calvinism, page 36. 
I See Chap. VII. 

17 



194 DESTROYS TREE AGENCY 

I have said in my Institutes, that I have no such su- 
perstitious dependence upon terms, as to contend 
about them, supposing that the knowledge of the doc- 
trine to which they refer be preserved safe and un- 
corrupted. If force be opposed to freedom, I acknow- 
ledge and will affirm, that there is a free will, a will 
determining itself, and proclaim every one who thinks 
otherwise, a heretic. Let the will be called free in 
this sense, that is, because it is not constrained or 
impelled irresistibly from without, but determines 
itself by itself, and I will no longer dispute."* 

Such, then, were Calvin's views. We will hear 
next from the Westminster divines. Their views on 
this subject were the views of Calvinists in the days 
of Messrs. Wesley and Fletcher, and ever since. 
" God," say they, "hath endued the will of man with 
that natural liberty, that it is neither forced, nor by 
any absolute necessity of nature, determined to good 
or evil. 

" Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom 
and power to will and to do that which is good and 
well pleasing to God; but yet mutably, so that he 
might fall from it. 

" Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath w r holly 
lost all ability of will to any spiritual good, accom- 
panying salvation : so as a natural man being alto- 
gether averse from that which is spiritually good, and 
dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to con- 
vert himself, or to prepare himself thereto. "f 

Next we will hear from the Arminians, and first 
from Arminius himself. 

"This is my opinion concerning the free will of 
man : in his primitive condition, as he came out of 
the hands of his Creator, man was endowed with such 

* Henry's Life of Calvin, Vol. I. Chap. ix. page 497. 
f Confession of Faith, Chap. IX. Sec i. ii. iii. 



AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 195 

a portion of knowledge, holiness, and power, as en- 
abled him to understand, esteem, consider, will, and 
to perform the true good, according to the command- 
ment delivered to him: yet, none of these acts could 
he do, except through the assistance of divine grace. 
But in his lapsed and sinful state, man is not capable 
of and by himself, either to think, to will, or to do, 
that which is really good: but it is necessary for him 
to be regenerated, and renewed in his intellect, affec- 
tions, or will, and in all his powers, by God in Christ, 
through the Holy Spirit, that he may be qualified 
rightly to understand, esteem, consider, will, and per- 
form whatever is truly good."* 

Next we will hear the General Conference. " The 
condition of man after the fall of Adam is such that 
he cannot turn and prepare himself by his own 
strength, and works, to faith and calling upon God ; 
wherefore we have no power to do good works, 
pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of 
God by Christ preventing" (that is, preparing) "us 
that we may have a good will, and working with us 
when we have that good will."f 

Thus it will be seen that Arminius, and the Arti- 
cles of the Methodist Episcopal Church go (if any- 
thing) farther than Calvin and the Confession of 
Faith, and yet Arminians charge Calvinism with 
taking away free agency from man. 

That the divine decrees are true, has been reduced 
to a demonstration :$ and that .man is a free agent, is 
a matter of consciousness. But although we have no 
doubt that things which are true apart, will be true 
when brought together, yet how to supply the con- 
necting link, Calvinists do not know, and Revelation 
does not inform us. We have never met with more 

•* Life of Arminius by Bangs, p. 224. 

f Articles and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
Chap. viii. % See Chap. VIII. 



196 DOES NOT DESTROY FREE 

than two sensible men, who thought they could re- 
move the difficulty. 

The following remarks of Rev. R. Watson are 
so sensible that we must by no means omit them. 
Speaking of the government of God, he says, 
"A second character of this government is, that, 
notwithstanding its sovereignty and certainty, it 
interferes not with human liberty. This is a doc- 
trine as clearly stated as the former, (viz. that it 
is sovereign and uncontrolled). If by freedom it 
were meant that man were left wholly to himself, 
that no influence is exerted over him, no directions 
given to his thinkings and motives, the doctrine 
could not be maintained consistently with the sov- 
ereignty of God; but this insulated situation is not 
necessary to constitute freedom. If we are so free 
from constraint, that our actions are properly our 
own, we have the freedom of moral agents. This is 
taught in Scripture. We shall be rewarded or 
punished for our actions, and they are therefore 
properly our own. Of this we have the highest 
evidence of which a subject is capable, our own 
internal perceptions. We feel that we are free, and 
that we might have avoided the evil into which we 
have fallen, and have done the good that we have 
neglected. We may not be able to reconcile the 
sovereign control of God with the freedom of his 
creatures; but that does not prove the doctrine false; 
it only proves our own ignorance. The Scriptures 
assert both propositions; reason can demonstrate 
that they do not contain a contradiction ; and if they 
involve difficulty, that is no more than may be 
affirmed of truths universally acknowledged."* 

This being a point on which Arminians dwell so 
much, we wish to notice still another inconsistency. 

Mr. Wesley says, " God doth whatsoever he 

* Sermon on The Reign of God. 



AGENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 197 

pleaseth in heaven and earth, and in the sea and all 
deep places .... only he that can do all things 
else, cannot deny himself: he cannot counteract 
himself and oppose his own work. Were it not for 
this (viz. destroying free agency) he would destroy 
all sin with its attendant pain in a moment. He 
would abolish wickedness out of his whole creation, 
and suffer no trace of it to remain."* 

The Rev. N. L. Bangs says, (as we have seen) " To 
say that the power of God was adequate to have 
prevented man as a free agent from sinning, is a con- 
tradiction." 

The Rev. R. Watson says, (as we have seen) "We 
may confidently say, that God willed the contrary of 
Adam's offence, and used all means consistent with 
his determination to give and maintain free agency 
to his creatures, to secure the accomplishment of his 
will." 

Here, then, we are taught that God cannot pre- 
vent man from sinning, without destroying his free 
agency, and that he cannot destroy his free agency, 
without denying and counteracting himself. We will 
now show, that these divines flatly contradict them- 
selves in this also. 

1. In regard to man as a sinner. Thus says Mr. 
Wesley, " If you truly fear God, you need fear none 
besides. He will be a strong tower to all that trust 
in him, from the face of all their enemies. . . . Let 
all earth and all hell combine .against you, yea, the 
whole animate and inanimate creation, they cannot 
harm you while God is on your side. His favourable 
kindness covers you as a shield."f 

But how can God prevent all earth and hell from 
harming his people, if he cannot prevent them from 
sinning? 

* Sermon on Divine Providence. f Ibid. 

17* 



198 NOT CONSISTENT WITH 

2. In convicting sinners. Thus says Bishop 
Morris, " Though he irresistibly convicts all sinners, 
he irresistibly converts none."* 

The Rev. R. Watson, speaking of the conversion of 
Saul, says, " We see where the irresistible influence 
terminated, and where his own agency commenced." 
Mr. Wesley " admits there are cases wherein the 
power of divine grace works as irresistibly as light- 
ning." If then, the sinner's awakening is irresistible, 
what comes of his free agency while it is going on? 

3. In conversion. "I believe," says Wesley, "that 
the grace which brings faith, and thereby salvation 
into the soul, is irresistible at that moment." And 
he " admits that in some souls, the grace is so far ir- 
resistible that they cannot but believe and be finally 
saved." Where then is free agency ? 

Thus we see, that these sticklers for free agency, 
notwithstanding they nullify every idea of it for which 
they contend, still tell us " God is determined to 
maintain it," and that he cannot interfere with it, 
without "denying and counteracting himself," &c. 

A tenth objection to the doctrine of personal un- 
conditional election, is that " it cannot be reconciled 
to the sincerity of God in offering salvation by Christ, 
to all who hear the gospel."f Nay, that "it so ill 
agrees with it," that "it makes the preaching of the 
gospel a mere mock and illusion. "J 

We have already seen, that according to Armini- 
ans, "the eternal decree, concerning the elect and 
reprobate, is expressed in these words, viz: 'He that 
believeth shall be saved, he that believeth not, shall 
damned;' and that this decree God will not change, 
and man cannot alter;" that "from the foundation 



* Sermon on The Operations of the Spirit. 
f Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxvi. 
% Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 42, 100. 



THE GOSPEL OFFER. 199 

of the world God foreknew all men's believing or not 
believing, and according to this his foreknowledge, he 
chose or elected all obedient believers as such, to sal- 
vation, and refused or reprobated all disobedient un- 
believers, as such, to damnation;" that the "reason 
why all men have not saving faith," is because, "no 
man is able to work it in himself." 

If then " God from the foundation of the world 
foreknew all men, believing or disbelieving," and by 
an eternal unchangeable decree, "reprobated all dis- 
obedient unbelievers, as such, to damnation" for not 
having the faith, they "could not work in themselves," 
he must not only have foreknown all the reprobate, 
but as they could not but sin, for want of the faith they 
could not create, he must have created them on purpose 
to damn them. Now, as soon as Arminians tell us how 
" it can be reconciled to the sincerity of God to offer 
salvation by Christ to those whom he eternally de- 
creed to damn, Calvinists are ready to pledge them- 
selves to remove the objections here urged against the 
doctrine of personal unconditional election. They 
themselves admit that this objection may be urged 
against the foreknowledge of God, and that they can- 
not answer it.* Why then do they direct all their 
artillery against the divine decrees only ? Calvinists 
have no doubt of the infinite value of the atonement, 
and that it is of such a nature, and so extensive as to 
authorize the offer of every blessing of " the gospel to 
every creature" — that man is a free, moral agent, and 
that not to accept the offer, is a most damning sin. 
And though they pretend not to fathom " the deep 
things of God," their hearts are not frozen, nor their 
tongues palsied, in making the offer. When the Sa- 
viour himself has said, " Look unto me and be ye saved, 
all ye ends of the earth." Isaiah xlv. 22. " Whosoever 
will, let him take of the waters of life freely.' Rev. 

* See Chap. VII. 



200 IS A DISCOURAGING DOCTRINE. 

xxii. 17. "Him that cometh, I will in no wise cast 
out." John vi. 37. " He that believeth shall be 
saved," Mark xvi. 16; and that "if we confess our 
sins he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to 
cleanse us from all unrighteousness," 1 John i. 9 ; 
they do not desire to "be wise above what is written," 
nor to " exercise themselves in things too high for 
them." "The secret things belong unto the Lord our 
God; but those which are revealed, belong unto us, 
and to our children for ever, that we may do all the 
words of this law." Deut. xxix. 29. 

11. "It is a discouraging doctrine."* 

To this objection we give the following reply of 
Dr. Nettleton : "Are there not," says he, "many, 
who are still without God, and without hope in the 
world ? They have spent their best days in sin. 
All means have hitherto proved ineffectual. So 
many years of their probation are gone, and they are 
still enemies of God. Permit me to summons those 
individuals to the bar of their own consciences." 

" What reason have you to believe that the gospel 
which you have heard in vain for so many years, will 
take effect when your hearts are still more hard? I 
would that you might feel the difficulty. We have 
no more powerful means, than those which have al- 
ready been used. Now if you deny the doctrine of 
election, where is your hope ? We will suppose the 
doctrine is not true — that God will leave you to do 
as you have done, and leave the means to operate as 
they have. Is this encouraging. Deny the doctrine 
of election and there is not a sinner in this assembly 
who has the least reason to conclude that he shall be 
saved. 

" Perhaps some are displeased with this doctrine, 
and hope it is not true. Then let me address you on 
your own ground. 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 31, 32. 



IS A DISCOURAGING DOCTRINE. 201 

" Whether the doctrine of election be true or false, 
it is an eternal truth, acknowledged by all, ' that ex- 
cept ye repent, ye shall perish.' Luke xiii. 3. Strike 
out the doctrine of election, yet the doctrine of regen- 
eration is true. 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, ex- 
cept a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom 
of God.' John iii. 3. Strike out the doctrine of elec- 
tion, and let the means operate just as they have 
done, yet the doctrine of faith is true. 'He that be- 
lieveth not, shall be damned.' Mark xvi. 16. Here 
is a given character which all the heirs of salvation 
must possess. Now you are at liberty to become 
Christians on the easiest scheme you can. If you 
will repent and believe, and be born again, you shall 
be saved, whatever may become of the doctrine of 
election. But why have you not done these, and be- 
come Christians already ? Why do you stand dis- 
puting about this doctrine, when you know that you 
must repent and believe, and be born again, or be 
lost? What will your disputing about this doctrine 
do, when you know that you must repent and believe 
and be born again, or be lost ! What will your dis- 
puting about this doctrine accomplish? If it be true, 
disputing will not alter it. Is it necessary for you to 
prove the doctrine to be false, before you can repent ? 
If you will repent and believe, and be born again 
without it, it is high time you were in earnest on the 
subject. If you say you cannot repent, unless 'God 
grant you repentance,' Acts y. 31; xi. 18; that is 
the same as to say you cannot repent unless the doc- 
trine of election is true. For if the doctrine of elec- 
tion is not true, it is certain that God has not deter- 
mined to grant repentance to any of the human race. 
If this doctrine is not true, it is certain that God has 
not determined to grant you repentance."* 

* Nettlcton's Memoir, pp. 279 — 281. 



202 PROMOTES CARELESSNESS, AND 

12. A twelfth objection to the doctrine is, that it is 
calculated to produce carelessness and indifference. 

Thus, in the Doctrinal Tracts, page 91, the care- 
less sinner is represented as saying, " What signifies 
my care? Why, what must be, must ^e. If I am 
elected, I must be saved, and if not, I must be 
damned." 

To this we reply, if it were announced to several 
prisoners under sentence of death, that the Governor 
had determined to pardon a certain number of them, 
and had made his selection, it would rouse in all, the 
most intense anxiety. Why then it should have a 
different tendency, when God is the Governor, and 
the eternal death of the soul the penalty, is not easy 
to conceive. In our opinion, the tendency is just the 
other way. The various candidates for civil office in 
our government, from the President down, well know 
they cannot all be elected. Does this lull them to 
sleep? no. Having been called out by their 
friends they double their diligence, though sure of 
success. Why then may not a similar knowledge, in 
reference to those who are called. by the gospel, lead 
them to use " diligence to make their calling and elec- 
tion sure?" 2 Peter i. 10. 

Another objection to the doctrine is, that " it tends 
to destroy the comfort of religion, the happiness of 
Christianity."* 

So thought not Paul ; but hear him — Rom. viii. 28. 
" We know that all things work together for good to 
them that love God, to them who are the called, ac- 
cording to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow 
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image 
of his Son, that he might be the first-born among 
many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, 
them he also called; and whom he called, them he 

* Doctrinal Tracts, page 161. 



LEADS TO UNIVERSALISM. 203 

also justified; and whom he justified, them he also 
glorified." 

So much for the doctrine ; now for the comfort. 
"What shall we say then to these things ? If God be 
for us, who can be against us? He that spared not 
his own Son, but freely gave him up for us all, how 
shall he not also with him freely give us all things ? 
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect ? 
It is God that justifieth : who is he that condemneth? 
It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, 
who is even at the right hand of God, who also mak- 
eth continual intercession for us. Who shall separate 
us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or dis- 
tress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, 
or sword? As it is written, For thy sake are we 
killed all the day long ; we are accounted as sheep for 
the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more 
than conquerors, through him that loved us. For I 
am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, 
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor 
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other 
creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of 
God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord." 

Such then, is the comfort which the Apostle Paul 
derived from the doctrine. And if such considera- 
tions are not comforting to any believer, it is difficult 
to conceive what would be. 

But says Dr. Fisk, "It leads to Universalism and 
Infidelity. I have personally, known numbers who 
have been driven by the doctrine we object to, into 
open infidelity."* 

What a man knows, he knows; it would be more 
satisfactory however, to hear from these erring indi- 
viduals themselves. 

As to the first of these objections, viz. That " it 

* Calvinistic Controversy, pp. 27, 28. 



204 LEADS TO INFIDELITY AND 

leads to Universalism," we remark, that if the doc- 
trine of personal unconditional election leads to Uni- 
versalism, we would like to know to what the Arminian 
notion, that "the offering of Christ, once made, is that 
perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction for 
all the sins of the whole world, both original and ac- 
tual," leads. It is somewhat remarkable that the 
definition of the atonement here given, is one of the 
grand arguments urged by Universalists in favour of 
their doctrine, and it is an argument which no Armi- 
nian can answer. 

On this point we have heard already the Rev. N. L. 
Bangs, we will therefore next hear the Rev. R. S. 
Foster. 

"'If Christ has absolutely paid the debt for his peo- 
ple, so that nothing more is necessary to acquit them 
from punishment — if the punishment has been in- 
flicted and justice satisfied without anything further, 
then it is manifest nothing more can be requisite to 
free them from punishment; and so their sins cannot 
be punished, and they cannot therefore be in any peril 
when they sin."* 

As to the second objection, viz. That " it leads to 
Infidelity," take the following from the "Life and 
Times of the Countess of Huntingdon." 

"Lord Bolingbroke was one day sitting in his 
house in Battersea, reading Calvin's Institutes, when 
he received a morning visit from the Rev. Dr. Church. 
After the usual salutations, he inquired of the Doctor 
if he could guess what book lay before him, and which 
said he, I have been studying." "No really, I can- 
not," replied Dr. Church. Quoth Bolingbroke, "It is 
Calvin's Institutes, and what do you think of these 
matters, doctor?" inquired his lordship. "Oh, my 
lord, we don't think about such antiquated stuff. We 

* Objections to Calvinism, page 154. 



INJURES CHRIST, ETC. 205 

teach the plain doctrines of virtue and morality, and 
have long laid aside these abstruse points about 
grace." " Look you, doctor," said Bolingbroke, 
"you know I don't believe the Bible to be a divine 
revelation; but they who do, can never defend it on 
any principle except the doctrine of grace. To say 
the truth, I have been almost persuaded to believe it 
upon this view of things, and there is one argument 
which has gone very far with me in behalf of its au- 
thority; that argument is, that the belief of it exists 
upon earth when committed to the care of such as you, 
who deny the only principles on which it is defensible."* 

Again, " This doctrine is highly injurious to Christ 
our Mediator, and to the efficacy and excellency of 
his gospel." "It represents the righteous, the only 
begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth, 
as a hypocrite, a deceiver of the people, a man void 
of common sincerity. "f 

This is a very serious charge, to which we might 
give an extended reply. But as Arminians them- 
selves refute it, we will let them speak. In Book III. 
Chapter iv. of the Life of Wesley, by the Rev. John 
Whitehead, his most intimate friend, and the most 
impartial and judicious of his Methodist biographers, 
w r e find the following, viz. "Experience I think will 
warrant the following observation. A speculative 
Calvinist, who, convinced of the error of his system, 
becomes an Arminian, so called, is in much greater 
clanger of falling into low, mean, unscriptural notions 
of Christ and his salvation, than a speculative Armin- 
ian who becomes a Calvinist." 

This is the statement of Mr. Whitehead, but he im- 
mediately adds, " Mr. Wesley seems to have been of 
this opinion." Pp. 242, 243. 

*Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon, pp. 98, 179. 
f Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 100, 169. 

18 



206 TENDS TO DESTROY MEEKNESS, ETC. 

According to Arminians themselves, therefore, it is 
Arminianism that leads to "low, mean, unscriptural 
notions of Christ, and of the Christian salvation," 
while Calvinism leads in the opposite direction. 

Once more. "As directly does this doctrine tend 
to destroy meekness and love" — to inspire or increase 
a sharpness or eagerness of temper. "It naturally 
inspires contempt or coldness towards those whom we 
suppose outcasts from God." "You cannot help 
sometimes applying your doctrine to particular per- 
sons." "But how did it sharpen and sour your spirit 
in the mean time!"* 

These charges are preferred by Mr. Wesley, and 
endorsed by the Methodist General Conference. Mr. 
"Wesley of course would be expected to be least obnoxi- 
ous to the same charge. Let us see. One of the rules 
he enacted for the government of the school at King- 
wood, was, that the boys should not play. Referring 
to this in the Conference of 1783, he said — " They 
ought never to play."f No doubt the boys thought 
the author of that rule very "sour." 

Let not the reader suppose this was a notion pecu- 
liar to Mr. Wesley. In 1789 the first Methodist 
College in America was founded in Maryland. Among 
"the rules and regulations which, after having been 
weighed and digested in the American Conferences, 
were introduced by Dr. Coke and Mr. Asbury, con- 
jointly, into the new seminary," Rule 18, was as fol- 
lows, viz. 

"The students shall be indulged with nothing which 
the world calls play. Let this rule be observed with 
the strictest nicety; for those who play when they are 
young, will play when they are old." "The masters 
should prohibit play in the strongest terms. "J 

* Doctrinal Tracts, page 161. 

f Taylor's Wesley and Methodism, page 307. 

% Life of Dr. Coke, pp. 123, 124. 



TENDS TO DESTROY MEEKNESS, ETC. 207 

Paul says, "When he became a man, he put away 
childish things." 1 Cor. xiii. 11. But verily, Messrs. 
Wesley, Coke, Asbury, and the Conferences, thought 
differently. We wonder if they may not have recom- 
mended to farmers to pen up their little lambs for a 
like reason. 

As this objection is urged against Calvinists, we 
may say a word for Calvin. " Morus says, with justice, 
(that) in him were united virtues almost contradictory. 
To zeal and indignation, he joined a cheerful, and even 
mirthful temper, which none can deny but those who 
judge him rather by the pallid countenance, than by 
his words and acts. We have learned from Credible 
persons that he made no scruple of joining in a spor- 
tive game with Messieurs, the Magistrates. It was, 
however, the harmless game called La Clef, which 
turns on one's ability to push certain keys to the 
furthest distance possible on a long table."* 

But we are not to suppose Arminians are always 
"sour." This is evident from what Mr. Wesley says 
of himself and his brother Charles. "I was a little 
surprised," says he, " at some who were buffeted of 
Satan in an unusual manner, by such a spirit of 
laughter as they could not resist, though it was pain 
and grief unto them. I could scarce have believed 
the account they gave me, had I not known the same 
thing ten or eleven years ago. Part of Sunday my 
brother and I then used to spend walking in the 
meadows and singing psalms. But one day, just as 
we were beginning to sing, he burst out into a loud 
laughter. I asked him if he was distracted ; and be- 
gan to be very angry, and presently after, to laugh as 
loud as he. Nor could we possibly refrain, though we 
were ready to tear ourselves in pieces, but we were 
forced to go home without singing another line."t 

* Biblical Repertory, Vol. IX., page 82. 
f Works, Vol. III. page 183. 



208 TENDS TO DESTKOY MEEKNESS, ETC. 

From this we learn that some persons in Mr. Wes- 
ley's day, who thought they ought not to laugh, were 
seized with " such a spirit of laughter as they could 
not well resist." This does not at all surprise us. 
We once knew a man who was beset with such an idea, 
but although he would grasp his lips with his fingers, 
we have several times seen a laugh burst them open 
and come out in full dimensions. 

Neither are we surprised that the man who thought 
that boys should not play, should think himself "buf- 
feted of Satan in an unusual manner," when seized 
with a fit of laughter. 

We were once at a camp-meeting, when from fifty 
to a hundred of the brethren were affected in the same 
way during sermon. But notwithstanding they laughed 
most heartily, as soon as the sermon was ended 
mourners were called out to be prayed for. The 
reader, however, should recall the Scripture which 
says, " Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and 
your joy to heaviness." James iv. 9. Still, he may 
be at a loss for an explanation, when he learns that 
these laughing brethren attributed their laughter to 
the influence of the Holy Spirit, while Mr. Wesley 
attributed his to the devil. 

But it is time to return to the consideration of the 
objection, viz. That the doctrine of predestination 
tends to destroy meekness, love, &c. 

Mr. Wesley, speaking to pious parents about their 
children, says, " In general, if they do not fear God, 
you should leave them as soon as is convenient. But 
wherever you are, take care, if it be in your power, 
that they do not want the necessaries or conveniences 
of life. As for all other relations, even brethren and 
sisters, if they are of the world, you are under no obli- 
gations to be intimate with them. You may be civil 
and friendly at a distance."* 

* Sermon on Friendship with the World. 



TENDS TO DESTROY MEEKNESS, ETC. 209 

Paul lays it down as among the greatest sins of 
the heathen, that they are "without natural affec- 
tion." Rom. i. 31. What Paul lays down as a gross 
sin, however, Mr. Wesley lays down as a Christian 
duty. 

Again, speaking of "the friendship of the world, 
as enmity against God," he says, "It is the most 
excellent way, indeed the only way to heaven, to 

avoid all intimacy with worldly men." "A few 

I have known, who even in this respect, were lights in 
a benighted land ; who did not, and would not either 
contract, or continue any acquaintance with persons 
of the most refined and improved understanding, and 
the most engaging tempers, merely because they were 
of the world, because they were not alive to God. 
Yea, though they were capable of improving them in 
knowledge, or of assisting them in business. Nay, 
though they admired and esteemed them for that 
very religion, which they did not themselves experi- 
ence. A case one would hardly think possible, but 
of which there are many instances at this day. 
Familiar intercourse even with these, they steadily 
refrained from for conscience sake. Go thou and do 
likewise, whosoever thou art, that art a child of God 
by faith. Whatever it cost, flee spiritual adultery. 
Have no friendship with the world. However tempted 
thereto by profit or pleasure, contract no intimacy 
with worldly-minded men. And if thou hast con- 
tracted any such already, break it off without delay. 
Yea, if thy ungodly friend be dear to thee, as a right 
eye, or useful as a right hand, yet confer not with 
flesh and blood, but pluck out the right eye, cut off 
the right hand, and cast them from thee ! It is not 
an indifferent thing. Thy life is at stake: eternal 
life or eternal death. And is it not better to go into 
life, having one eye or one hand, than having both, to 
be cast into he 11 -fire? When thou knewest no better, 
18* 



210 TENDS TO DESTKOY MEEKNESS, ETC. 

the times of this ignorance God winked at. But now 
thine eyes are opened; now thy light is come, walk 
in the light. Touch not pitch lest thou be defiled. 
At all events, keep thyself pure. But whatever 
others do, whether they will hear, or whether they 
will forbear, hear this, all ye that are called Metho- 
dists. However importuned or tempted thereto, have 
no friendship with the world. Look round, and see 
the melancholy effects it has produced among your 
brethren ! How many of the mighty are fallen by 
this very thing. They would take no warning. 
They would converse, and that intimately, with earth- 
ly-minded men, till they measured back their steps 
again. come out from among them; from all 
unholy men, however harmless they may appear; and 
be ye separate; at least so far as to have no intimacy 
with them. As your fellowship is with the Father, 
and with his Son Jesus Christ, so let it be with those, 
and those only, who at least seek the Lord Jesus in 
sincerity. So shall ye be in a peculiar sense, my 
sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.* 

He had before laid it down as the religious duty of 
parents, "if their children do not fear God, to leave 
them as soon as is convenient;" that brothers and 
sisters are under no obligation to be intimate with 
their brothers and sisters "if they are of the world." 
Now he says, "the only way to heaven, is to avoid all 
intimacy with worldly men," and he urges it upon 
Methodists especially "for conscience sake not to 
contract or continue any acquaintance with such per- 
sons, even when they are of the most refined and 
improved understanding, and the most engaging 
manners." 

So preached John Wesley, a prince among Armi- 
nians, and yet raised an objection to Calvinism, which 

* Sermon on Friendship with the World. 



TENDS TO DESTROY MEEKNESS, ETC. 211 

has been endorsed by the General Conference of the 
Methodist Church, viz. that "it naturally inspires 
contempt or coldness toward those whom we suppose 
outcasts from God." 

Mr. Wesley, a little previous to what we have 
quoted, says, " An individual of fine and strong under- 
standing improved by education," "remarkably good 
humoured," of a "compassionate and humane spirit, 
and much generosity of temper, is on these very 
accounts, if he does not fear God, infinitely the more 
dangerous." And he adds, u O beware of them. 
Converse with them as much as business requires, and 
no more." 

Then it follows, that although the gospel could 
rarely be supported, but for the aid it receives from 
refined, well educated, benevolent, law-abiding, church- 
attending people, these "are infinitely more danger- 
ous" to the Christian, than those who in their disposi- 
tions, characters, and habits approach nearest to 
devils. 

Our Saviour referring to the enmity of Jews and 
heathen against Christianity, and to its spread among 
them, said "a man's foes would be they of his own 
household." Mr. Wesley however would put the 
sword into the Christian's hand. 

Christ taught again, that his disciples "are the salt 
of the earth, and the light of the world;" and that 
their light should not be covered, nor the salt 
kept to preserve itself merely^ Mr. Wesley however 
would have the salt to itself, and the light under a 
bushel. 

Because men are Christians they do not cease to be 
citizens, and the religion of the Bible makes them 
better citizens in all the relations of life. And 
though, like members of the same family, they may 
on the whole, prefer the society of their brethren, 
they do not think "the only way to heaven is to 



212 TENDS TO DESTROY MEEKNESS, ETC. 

avoid all intimacy with worldly men." Mr. Wesley 
thinks otherwise. 

In the same discourse he supposes one to ask, 
" Must I not be intimate with my relations, whether 
they fear God or not? Has not his providence 
recommended these to me? Undoubtedly it has. But 
there are relations, near or more distant. The near- 
est relations are husbands and wives. As these have 
taken each other for better or worse, they must make 
the best of each other," &c. 

This supposes that for a husband or wife to be 
pious, and his or her companion not pious, is an evil 
to be tolerated barely. 

From the beginning of Methodism under Mr. Wes- 
ley, there has been a standing rule in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church which forbids a member to marry 
one who does not profess religion, or at least to be 
seeking it. A friend of ours was once present when 
a member of that communion was arraigned for hav- 
ing violated this rule. The accused appeared to be in 
deep distress; but when asked if he was not sorry for 
having married that woman. "No, I ain't," was the 
prompt reply. Poor fellow, he "could find no place 
for repentance, though he sought it carefully with 
tears." (For a further view of this subject see Chap- 
ter XVIII.) 

He continues — "When it pleased God to give me 
a settled resolution to be not a nominal, but a real 
Christian, (being then about twenty-two years of age,) 
my acquaintance were as ignorant of God as myself. 
... I found by sad experience that even their harm- 
less conversation, so called, dampened all my good 

resolutions In consequence of this, I 

narrowly observed the temper and behaviour of all 
that visited me. I saw no reason to believe that they 
truly loved or feared God. Such acquaintance I did 
not choose. I could not expect they would do me 



TENDS TO DESTROY MEEKNESS, ETC. 213 

any good. Therefore, -when any of these came, I 
behaved as courteously as I could. But to the ques- 
tion, 'When -will you come to see me?' I returned no 
answer. When they had come a few times, and found 
I still declined returning the visit, I saw them no 
more, and I bless God this has been my invariable 
rule for about three-score years." 

In his Works, Vol. Y. page 236, he says, " Let no 
person come into the preacher's house, unless he wants 
to ask a question." 

Our Saviour said, "They that are whole need not 
a physician, but they that are sick. I came not to 
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Mark 
ii. 17. Mr. Wesley, however, would say, " They that 
are sick need not a physician, but they that are whole. 
I came not to call sinners, but the righteous to repent- 
ance." 

Of our Saviour it was said, "This man receiveth 
sinners and eateth with them;" and that "he had 
gone to be a guest with a man that is a sinner," &c. 
But verily Mr. Wesley was resolved that this should 
not be said of him, or of the Methodists. 

Again, he says to the members generally, " Invite 
no unholy person to your house" (and) "on no occa- 
sion accept an invitation from an unholy person."* 
Our Saviour, on the contrary, when "a pharisee be- 
sought him to dine with him, went in and sat down to 
meat." Luke xi. 37. The Apostle Paul urged Chris- 
tians to "be given to hospitality 5 "f and the Apostle 
Peter urged ministers to "be ensamples to the flock ;"{ 
Mr. Wesley, however, differed not with our Saviour 
only, but with his Apostles also. 

In his sermon on "Leaving the World," he insists 
not only that "it is dangerous" (for the pious) "to 

* Sermon on the Friendship of the World. 

f Rom. xii. 13. J 1 Pet, v. 3. 



214 INSPIRES COLDNESS 

converse with any who do not love God, or at least 
fear him and sincerely seek his kingdom and right- 
eousness," but says, " Come not near him, for it is not 
his reasonings or persuasions only that may infect 
your soul, but his breath is infectious." 

What a leprosy, therefore, our Saviour and his dis- 
ciples must have contracted when they "sat down to 
meat with many publicans and sinners." Matt. ix. 10. 
When Paul and his companions, on their journey to 
Italy, escaped from the wrecked vessel to Melita, they 
were received by "Publius, the chief man of the 
island, and lodged courteously three days." Acts 
xxvii. 7. Now, if Mr. Wesley had been there, he, no 
doubt would have whispered to Paul, " On no occasion 
accept an invitation from an unholy person." " Come 
not near him, for not his reasonings or persuasions 
only, but his breath is infectious." 

That we may see how far Mr. Wesley went on this 
subject, it is proper to state, that in a letter to Mr. 
Fletcher, dated March 20th, 1768, he urged upon him 
not the unprofitableness only, but the positive injury 
of hearing the sermons, or keeping the company of 
those not " athirst for full redemption (entire sanctifi- 
cation) and every moment expecting it, if not enjoy- 
ing it."* 

Let not the reader suppose we are raking up the old 
repudiated notions of Wesley, merely. In 1849, there 
was a volume of sermons, by Bishop Maris of Ohio, 
" published in Cincinnati for the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. In the sermon on " Religion," the Bishop says, 
" A Christian must keep . . . himself unspotted from the 
w r orld, refusing . . . any familiarity with the society of 
the world further than is strictly necessary to trans- 
act lawful business with, and reclaim them from sin 
and ruin." See 1 Cor. v. 9 — 11. 

* Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon, Vol. II. pp. 233, 234. 



TOWARDS THOSE WITHOUT. 215 

What a relief, just here, is the following from Dr. 
Franklin. After saying, "I was intimately acquaint* 
ed with Whitefield, who used to pray for my conver- 
sion," he says, " Ours was a more civil friendship, 
sincere on both sides, and lasted till his death. The 
following instance will show on what terms we stood. 
Upon one of his arrivals in Boston, from England, he 
wrote me, that he should come soon to Philadelphia, 
but knew not where he might lodge, as he understood 
that his old friend and host, Mr. Benezet, had re- 
moved to Germantown. My answer was, "You 
know my house, if you can make shift with its scanty 
accommodations, you will be most heartily welcome." 
He replied, "If you make this kind offer for Christ's 
sake, you will not miss your reward." I returned, 
" Do not let me be mistaken. It was not for Christ's 
sake, but for yours."* It is necessary to add only, 
that Whitefield was a Calvinist. 

From what has been adduced already, it was evi- 
dently the design of the founder of Methodism, and 
from what we are about to adduce, it will be manifest 
that the Methodist Episcopal Church now desires, to 
be "a peculiar people" unto themselves. Hence the 
General Conference have laid down the following 
among their rules of Government, viz. " Let it be re- 
commended to our people not to attend the singing- 
schools which are not under our direction. "f "It is 
expected of all who continue in these (united) Socie- 
ties, that they continue to evidence their desire of 
salvation by (among other things) buying one of an- 
other, helping each other in business, and so much 
the more because the world will love its own. "J 

So then, one of the ways an individual is to " evi- 



* Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon, Vol. II. p. 276. 
f Discipline, Chap. i. Sec. xxv. Rule 14, Edition 1844. 
I Ibid. Chap. ii. Sec. i. Rule 5. 



216 INSPIRES COLDNESS, ETC. 

dence his desire of salvation," is by buying of Metho- 
dists only, and helping them in their business. 

Again, they say, "Let no person that is not a 
member of our Church be admitted to the communion 
without examination, and some token given by an 
elder or deacon."* 

Although then, they receive into their church from 
the world, members on probation, and admit them to 
the Lord's supper without examination, whether they 
profess conversion or not, this rule imperatively re- 
quires them to examine the members of other denom- 
inations before they admit them to the same privilege. 
It therefore supposes that an individual, by uniting 
with any other than the Methodist Church, receives 
thereby a positive injury, and that mere worldlings 
are better off. 

But again, Mr. Wesley says, "If I come into a 
new preaching-house and see the men and women 
(sitting) together, I will immediately go out."f 

From this it appears he was so "sour," that if 
families sat together in the house of God, as they sat 
at home, he would not preach to them. Surely then, 
Arminians are among the last people on this earth, 
who ought to charge it upon others that their doctrine 
tends to "sharpen and sour their spirits," "to de- 
stroy meekness and love," and to "inspire contempt 
and coldness towards those whom we suppose outcasts 
from God." If any infidel writer has advanced sen- 
timents more at war with Christianity than what has 
been laid down as the duty of pious parents towards 
their unconverted children — of a pious brother or sis- 
ter towards a brother or sister not pious — intercourse 
with the world — hospitality, &c, he has never come 
under our notice. 



* Discipline, Chap. i. Sec. xxiii. Question 1st, Answer 2d. 
f Works, Vol. V. page 253. 



TENDS TO DESTROY HOLINESS. 217 

That the doctrine of election has a tendency exact- 
ly the reverse of that charged against it, is evident 
from the language of Paul : " Put ye on therefore, as 
the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, 
kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffer- 
ing, forbearing one another, and forgiving one an- 
other, if any man have a quarrel against any. Even 
as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." Col. iii. 13; 
1 Cor. v. 9—13. 

Another objection to the doctrine under considera- 
tion is, that it "has a manifest tendency to destroy 
holiness in general;" .and "not only Christian holi- 
ness, happiness, and good works, but also a direct and 
manifest tendency to overthrow the whole Christian 
revelation." "It represents our blessed Lord Jesus 
Christ, the righteous, the only begotten Son of the 
Father, full of grace and truth, as a hypocrite, a de- 
ceiver of the people, a man void of common sincerity." 
" It destroys all his (the Father's) attributes at once. 
It overturns both his justice, mercy and truth. Yea, it 
represents the most holy God as worse than the devil, 
as both more false, more cruel, and more unjust."* 

In Mr. Wesley's Works, Vol. V., page 238, we have 
the following, viz. 

" Question. What is the direct antidote to Metho- 
dism, the doctrine of heart holiness ? 

" Answer. Calvinism. All the devices of Satan for 
these fifty years have done far less toward stopping 
this work of God than that single error." .... 

" Q. What can be done to guard against it?" 

u A. 6. Very frequently, both in public and pri- 
vate, advise our people not to hear them." 

"A. 7. Make it a matter of constant prayer that 
God would stop the plague." 

In the same volume, page 241, we have the follow- 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 100, 105, 107, 170, 171. 
10 



218 TENDS TO DESTROY HOLINESS, 

ing as in part, the character of a Methodist, viz. "But 
as to all opinions which do not strike at the root of 
Christianity, we think, and let think." 

Of course then, as " Calvinism is a device of 
Satan" — "the direct antidote of heart holiness," and 
"which has done more towards stopping that work of 
God than all his other devices for fifty years ;" it 
"strikes at the root of Christianity," and is by no 
means to be tolerated. Accordingly, the Rev. N. L. 
Bangs, speaking of Calvinism and Universalism, says 
expressly, "Of the two systems, Universalism is less 
dishonourable to God."* And therefore, neither So- 
cinianism, Universalism, Popery, nor Infidelity, is 
treated by Arminians with a tenth part of the severity 
or injustice that Calvinism is. To guard against it, 
Methodists were advised by the Conference, as we 
have seen, not to hear Calvinists preach. In 1773, 
there being great confusion among the societies of Mr. 
Wesley in Ireland, there was a great call in that 
country for Calvinistic preachers. The Rev. Thomas 
Jones and the Rev. Mr. Hawkesworth, were accord- 
ingly sent over by Lady Huntingdon, the latter of 
whom met with considerable encouragement in Lime- 
rick and Waterford. A Mrs. Bennis, writing to Mr. 
Wesley, says, "Mr. Hawkesworth, a Calvinistic min- 
ister under Lady Huntingdon, has come here, and 
preaches regularly at Methodist hours, to great 
congregations. . . . Our people, though forbidden by 
the preachers, go almost constantly to hear him. I 
have heard his discourses so praised that I did wish to 
hear him, but would not show the example." 

Mr. Wesley, in his reply, says, "It is far better for 
our people not to hear Mr. Hawkesworth. Calvinism 
will do them no good."f 

* Reformer Reformed, page 172. 

f Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon, Vol. II. pp. 
164—166. 



HAPPINESS, GOOD WORKS, ETC. 219 

Here then we see the efforts that were made to 
carry out the advice of the Conference. 

But to the objection as to the tendency of Calvin- 
ism. Is it well founded? "All Christians admit 
there is an inseparable connection between religious 
faith and sound morality, and that wherever scrip- 
tural truth is embraced, the uniform effect is to pro- 
mote virtuous feelings and conduct. It is admitted, 
also, that the moral tendencies of religious error are 
bad in proportion to the greatness of the error. No 
more conclusive evidences of the falsity of Paganism, 
Deism, Mohammedanism and Popery can be presented 
to the reflecting mind, than that afforded by their cor- 
rupt fruits." If then Calvinism tends to destroy holi- 
ness, happiness, good works, and to overthrow the 
whole system of revelation — if "it represents the Lord 
Jesus as a deceiver and hypocrite" — if "it destroys 
all the attributes of God at once, and represents him 
as worse than the devil, more false, more cruel, more 
unjust" — if, in short, "it is the direct antidote of 
heart holiness, and has done more toward stopping 
this work of God than all the devices of Satan for 
fifty years," its effects on those who embrace it and on 
the communities where they live, will be to make 
them like the being whom they worship, " worse than 
the devil." Let us see. "From the earliest ages," 
says the British Encyclopedia, in an article written 
by no Calvinist, "they (Calvinists) have excelled in 
no small degree, in the practice- of the most rigid and 
respectable virtues, and have been the highest honour 
to their own age, and the best models for imitation in 
any age." 

Let us now see, if this general statement is not 
true. 

It will not be denied that Augustine, Bishop of 
Hippo, who lived in the latter part of the fourth, and 
the beginning of the fifth centuries, held the doctrine 



220 DOES NOT DESTROY 

of divine foreordination, and its kindred doctrines, 
now called Calvinistic. That his labours and writings, 
more than those of any other man in the age in which 
he lived, contributed to promote sound doctrine, and 
the revival of true religion, no candid man acquainted 
with the history of the Church will deny. In his day 
the Pelagian heresy arose, and threatened to spread 
its withering influence over the Church. "To him," 
says the learned Mosheim, "is principally due the 
glory of having suppressed this sect in its birth." In 
the midst of this controversy, Augustine delivered his 
views on "the necessity of divine grace, in order to 
our salvation, and the decrees of God with respect to 
the future condition of men." Shortly after this, 
when certain Monks advanced the doctrine so often 
charged upon Calvinists, "that God not only predes- 
tinated the wicked to eternal punishment, but also to 
the guilt and transgression for which they are 
punished, and that thus both the good and the bad 
actions of all men were determined from eternity, 
and fixed by an invincible necessity," Augustine 
made as decided opposition to this doctrine as to 
Pelagianism, "and explained his true sentiments with 
more perspicuity, that it might not be attributed to 
him."* The same historian, who was not a Calvinist, 
says — "The fame of Augustine filled the whole 
Christian world ; and not without reason, as a variety 
of great and shining qualities were united in the 
character of that illustrious man. A sublime genius, 
an uninterrupted and zealous pursuit of truth, an 
indefatigable application, and invincible patience, a 
sincere piety, and a subtle and lively wit conspired to 
establish his fame upon the most lasting founda- 
tion.'^ 

"The youth of Augustine," says Gibbon, "had been 

* Church History, Vol. I. Part II. p. 372. f Ibid. p. 380. 



HOLINESS, GOOD WORKS, ETC. 221 

stained by vices and errors which he so ingenuously 
confesses; but from the moment of his conversion, to 
that of his death, the manners of the Bishop of Hip- 
po were pure and austere."* 

It is true, the testimony of Mr. Wesley is at first 
the opposite of these, but in the end he fully sustains 
what has been advanced. "I would not affirm," says 
he, " that the arch heretic of the fifth century (as 
plentifully as he has been bespattered for many ages,) 
was not one of the holiest men of that age, not 
excepting St. Augustine himself (a wonderful saint ! 
as full of pride, passion, bitterness, censoriousness, 
and as foul-mouthed to all that contradicted him, as 
George Fox himself.") 'But St. Augus- 
tine says:' — When Augustine's passions were heated, 
his word is not worth a rush. And here is the secret. 
St. Augustine was angry at Pelagius. Hence he 
slandered and abused him (as his manner was) with- 
out fear or shame. And St. Augustine was then in 
the Christian world, what Aristotle was afterwards. 
There needed no other proof of any assertion, than 
' St. Augustine said it.' "f If then "Augustine was in 
the Christian world, what Aristotle was afterwards," 
and the confidence reposed in him such, that "there 
needed no other proof of any assertion, than that 
Augustine said it," is it not far more probable that 
the word of Mr. Wesley is not worth a rush, than 
that of St. Augustine ? 

Among the earlier believers in the Calvinistic doc- 
trine, were those eminent and honoured witnesses for 
the truth, the Waldenses, and Albigenses. In one of 
their creeds, containing a brief summary of their 
faith, "which" say they "hath been taught us, from 
the father to the son, for these many hundred years, 

* Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chap, xxxiii. 
| Sermon on the Wisdom of God's Counsels. 

19* 



222 DOES NOT DESTROY 

and taken out of the word of God," the second 
article is as follows, viz. "All that have been, Or 
shall be saved, have been chosen of God before all 
worlds." The fourth article reads thus, "Whosoever 
holdeth free will" (that is, in the Arminian sense of 
a self-determining power) "denieth wholly, the pre- 
destination of God."* It is difficult to trace with 
certainty these wonderful people to their origin; but 
it is agreed on all hands, (Papists excepted) that no 
people have so long and so firmly held on to evangeli- 
cal faith, and sound morality, against the most pro- 
tracted and cruel persecutions. When the glorious 
Reformation of the sixteenth century commenced, 
Dr. Fisk, of the Methodist Church, tells us, "these 
scattered adherents to the faith once delivered to the 
saints, were prepared to give aid and influence to the 
first general struggle that was made to reform the 
impurities of the Church. "f 

The martyrs of Protestantism have been almost 
exclusively drawn from the bosom of the Reformed 
Churches, rarely from the Arminian communions. A 
century before Luther was born, John Huss was con- 
signed to the flames by the Council of Constance, on 
charge of teaching, among other heresies, the doctrines 
of predestination and the perseverance of the saints. 
The charge was clearly sustained, for he had written 
in his book, that "no part or member of the church 
doth finally fall away, because the charity of predes- 
tination, which is the bond and chain of the same, 
doth never fall away." Jerome of Prague, having 
avowed his faith in the preaching of Huss, was burned 
on the same spot by order of the same Council. The 
works of John Wickliffe being found by the Council to 
contain similar doctrines, his body, which had lain 

* Perm's History of the Waldenses. 
f Fisk's Travels, page 122. 



HOLINESS, GOOD WORKS, ETC. 223 

forty-one years in the grave was dug up and burned. 
As the old historian writes — " They cast his ashes 
into the Swift, a neighbouring brook, running hard 
by; this brook hath conveyed his ashes into Avon, 
Avon into Severn, Severn into the narrow seas, they 
into the main Ocean. And thus the ashes of Wick- 
lifFe are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dis- 
persed all the world over."* 

But surely if the irreligious and the demoralizing 
effects of Calvinism have existed anywhere, we 
would expect to find them prominent in John Calvin, 
John Knox, and the places where these uncom- 
promising advocates of that doctrine respectively 
laboured. 

" John Calvin," Mr. Wesley says, "was a pious, 
learned, and sensible man," and "a great instrument 
of God."f 

What! a man, pious, "and a great instrument of 
God," whose doctrine, more than "any other device 
of Satan for fifty years, tended to destroy holiness, hap- 
piness, good works," and to overthrow the whole Chris- 
tian revelation — who " represents our blessed Lord 
Jesus Christ as a hypocrite, a deceiver of the people," 
" void of common sincerity" — " destroys all the at- 
tributes of God at once, and represents him as worse 
than the devil, more false, more cruel, more unjust." 
Verily, if the position laid down be true, the testi- 
mony is false, or if the testimony be true, the position 
is false, for they are directly opposite. "After the 
holy Scriptures," says Arminius, " I exhort the stu- 
dents to read the commentaries of Calvin, for I tell 
them that he is incomparable in the interpretation of 
Scripture, and that his commentaries ought to be 
held in greater veneration than all that is delivered 

* Dr. Humphrey's Sermon. 

f Miscellaneous Works, Vol. I. II. pp. 546, 475. 



224 DOES NOT DESTROY 

to us by the ancient Christian fathers. So that in an 
eminent spirit of prophecy, I give the pre-eminence 
to him beyond them all."* 

44 Geneva," says Dr. Fisk, "has long been cele- 
brated for its schools and eminent men. To have 
produced a Calvin and a Beza is honour enough of 
this kind for one city."f 

" Calvin," says D'Aubigne," "with the zeal of a 
prophet, and the devotion of a martyr, who submits 
himself unreservedly to the stern word of God, 
exacted from the church under his care absolute 
obedience to her laws. He strove hand to hand 
with the libertine party, and by the grace of God, he 
remained the stronger. Geneva, formerly, so cor- 
rupt, was regenerated, and displayed a purity of 
manners, a Christian simplicity, which drew from 
Farel, after an absence of fifteen years, a shout of 
admiration, and these remarkable words, "I would 
rather be the last in Geneva, than the first anywhere 
else." " And fifty years after Calvin's death, adds 
D'Aubigne, " Jean Valentin, a fervent Lutheran, 
having passed some time within our walls, said on his 
return, " What I have seen, I shall never forget, and 
I shall ardently desire to retain it all my life. The 
fairest ornament of that republic, is its tribunal of 
manners, which makes inquiry every week into the 
disorders among the citizens. Games of cards, and 
chance, oaths, blasphemies, impurity, quarrels, ha- 
treds, deceits, infidelities, drunkenness, and other 
vices are suppressed. ! but this purity is a beauti- 
ful ornament of Christianity ! We (the Lutherans) 
cannot shed tears enough over that in which we are 
wanting. If the difference in doctrine did not with- 
draw me from Geneva, the harmony of its manners 

* Calvin on Romans, American edition, Preface. 
f disk's Travels, page 416. 



HOLINESS, GOOD WORKS, ETC. 225 

would have retained me there for ever."* Montes- 
quieu had reason, therefore, to say that " Geneva 
ought to celebrate with gratitude the day when 
Calvin came within her walls."f 

We will now take a very brief notice of John 
Knox and Scotland. To enter largely into what 
might be, and what ought to be said of the influence 
of Calvinism here, would extend this chapter to too 
great length. " This that Knox did for his nation," 
says his illustrious countryman Carlyle, " we may 

really call a resurrection as from death He 

is the one Scotchman to whom, of all others, his 
country and the world owe a debt. He has to plead 
that Scotland would forgive him for having been 
worth to it any million. Unblamable Scotchman 
that needs no forgiveness," &c.J 

Next to the doctrine of the atonement, predestina- 
tion was the soul of his religion, and has been the 
soul of the religion of that country ever since. And 
now for sound learning, morality, piety, and the 
general happiness of the people, Scotland stands pre- 
eminent in Europe. In 1698 the population was 
about one million. Of that number, "one hundred 
thousand," or one out of ten, according to Fletcher 
of Saltown, "were beggars, living without regard to 
the laws of God — murder and every species of dis- 
order, vice, and crime, being common among them. 
Yet so great was the change wrought among them 
chiefly by Calvinistic religious instruction, that at 
the autumn courts in 1757 not a single person was 
found guilty of any capital crime. In the time of 
Howard, when the population was 1,600,000, only 34 
persons were convicted of capital crimes in nineteen 

* D'Aubigne's Luther and Calvin, pp. 54, 55. 

f D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation, Vol. III. page 320. 

j Lectures on Heroes, page 235. 



226 DOES NOT DESTROY 

years. The late Sir Henry Fielding, of London, 
says, "That during his long administration, as one of 
the justices of Bow street, only six Scotchmen were 
brought before him for trial." 

Mr. Whitehead referring to the visit of the 
Messrs. Wesleys to Scotland, says, " The preachers 
met with no riotous mobs to oppose their progress in 
Scotland. Here, all ranks and orders of the people, 
from the highest to the lowest, had long been re- 
markable for a decent regard to religion, and the 
ministerial character."* 

Dr. Chalmers makes the following most powerful 
appeal in behalf of the moral effects of Calvinistic 
teaching. 

" How comes it, that Scotland, which of all coun- 
tries in Europe is the most signalized by the rigid 
Calvinism of her pulpit, should also be most signalized 
by the moral glory that sits on the aspect of her gen- 
eral population? How, in the name of mystery, 
should it happen that such a theology as ours is con- 
joined with perhaps the yet most un vitiated peasantry 
among the nations of Christendom? The allegation 
against our Churches is, that in the argumentation of 
our abstract and speculative controversies, the people 
are so little schooled to the performance of good 
works. A.nd how is it, that in our courts of justice, 
when compared with the calendars of our sister king- 
dom, there should be so vastly less to do with their 
evil works? It is certainly a most important experi- 
ence, that in that country where there is the most 
Calvinism, there should be the least crime — that what 
may be called the most doctrinal nation of Europe, 
should, at the same time, be the least depraved, either 
by their weekly profligacies or their Sabbath profana- 
tions." 

"This is the peasantry of which Burnet said, 

* Life of Wesley, page 216. 



HOLINESS, GOOD WORKS, ETC. 227 

i they had a comprehension of matters of religion 
greater than I have seen among people of that sort 
anywhere.' "* 

We come to notice next the Assembly of Westmin- 
ster divines. If Calvinism is what the indictment 
charges, here surely we will find a body of incarnate 
demons. The Rev. Richard Baxter, author of the 
Saint's Rest, may be considered an impartial witness, 
as he knew many of them intimately. " They were," 
says he, " men of eminent learning, godliness, and 
ministerial ability, and fidelity. And being not wor- 
thy to be one of them myself, I may more freely speak 
the truth which I know, even in the face of malice 
and envy; that as far as I am able to judge by the 
information of history, and by any other evidences, 
the Christian world, since the days of the Apostles, 
has never had a Synod of more excellent divines, than 
this Synod and the Synod of Dort."f 

Let us next hear from the Methodists 

The Western Christian Advocate, published in Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio, is for ability second to no other in the 
denomination it represents. In an editorial in that 
paper about the middle of November, 1853, we find 
the following, viz. " We must speak with profound 
respect of the Westminster Confession. It was the 
greatest work of its time, or of any previous time, for 
sound theological views, excepting always its peculiar 
teachings on the five points; and Calvin's works as a 
whole, are not equalled by any. divine of his time; 
even now, they challenge the respect of the best theo- 
logians, erroneous as they are in some respects; the 
Form of Government of the Confession too, is the 
highest model as a whole, that the Christian world 
ever saw, since the Apostles." 

* Sermon "On the Respect due to Antiquity." 
f History of the Westminster Assembly, page 176. 



228 DOES NOT DESTROY 

A similar article may be found in the Methodist 
Quarterly, some four or five years ago. The sincerity 
of these statements is evinced by the fact that more 
than one half of the questions in the Larger Cate- 
chism of the Methodist Church are taken from the 
Shorter Catechism of the Presbyterian Church. Sure- 
ly then these men did not worship a God worse than 
the devil. 

Oliver Cromwell was a Calvinist. No one ac- 
quainted with his history, but will admit that in reli- 
gion, predestination constituted a large part of his 
meat and his drink. The same is true of his army 
also. But what was the character of that army? 
Hear the historian Macaulay, himself an Episcopalian. 
" That which chiefly distinguished the army of Crom- 
well from other armies, was the stern morality and 
fear of God, which pervaded all ranks. It is acknow- 
ledged by the most zealous royalists, that in that 
single camp, no oath was heard, no drunkenness or 
gambling was seen, and that during the long dominion 
of the soldiery, the property of the peaceable citizen 
and the honour of women were held sacred. ... No 
servant girl complained of the rough gallantry of the 
red coats, not an ounce of plate was taken from the 
shops of the goldsmiths."* 

The Rev. J. Jones of Nayland, an Episcopal Min- 
ister, and by no means favourable to the Puritans, 
speaking of Puritanism during the reign of Charles I. 
says: " The reformation of manners was remarkable 
— the laws against vice and profaneness were so strict, 
and so rigorously put in execution, that vice was 
forced to hide itself in corners. There was not a play 
acted in any theatre in England for about twenty 
years. Profane swearing, drunkenness, or any kind 
of debauchery were not heard or seen on the streets. 

* History of England, Vol. I. page 114. 



229 

The Lord's day was observed with unusual rever- 
ence,"* &c. The same is admitted by the Edinburgh 
Review, 1841, where a sketch is given of the morals 
in England in a Calvinistic and an Arminian period, 
much to the advantage of the former. 

Mr. Wesley in his sermon on the Trinity asks, 
" Who will dare to affirm that none of the assertors 
of absolute predestination are truly religious men? 
Not only many of them in the last century were burn- 
ing and shining lights, but many of them are now real 
Christians, loving God and all mankind." 

Mr. Watson says, " It (Calvinism) has mustered 
among its votaries many venerable names, and many 
devoted and holy men, whose writings often rank 
among the brightest lights of scriptural criticism and 
practical divinity. "f 

" The cause of morals and good order has always 
found them (the Presbyterians) the first to aid, and 
among the last to retire from its support."! 

In 1842 there appeared a letter in a religious 
paper against the Calvinists. A Mr. C. Adams, of 
Lynn, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
wrote to the editor in April 30th of that year, 
among other things as follows: "You, Mr. Editor, 
should not forget that among them (Calvinists) are 
some of the greatest Christian and biblical scholars 
now upon the stage — that among them, too, are large 
numbers of able, devoted, and excellent ministers, at 
whose feet you and myself would delight to sit and 
receive instruction. "§ 

The Rev. R. S. Foster, of the Ohio Annual Con- 
ference, has written the most sophistical, unjust, 
heated, and wicked book against the Calvinists, that 

* Presbyterian Banner, Nov. 5th, 1853. 
f Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxviii. 
j Western Christian Advocate, of December 1841. 
| Watchman of the South, of 1842. 

20 



230 DOES NOT DESTROY 

has come under the writer's notice. Yet when speak- 
ing of the Presbyterian Church, he says, "Among 
her ministers are some dear to me as my own 
brothers. In despite of her errors, I here record 
my firm persuasion that she has many surpassing 
excellencies — many which my own Church may well 
and wisely emulate."* 

There is published in the proceedings of a late 
meeting of the Alumni and friends of Washington 
College, Pennsylvania, a letter from the Hon. Henry 
A. Wise, addressed to a committee of the College, 
which had invited him to be present on the occasion. 
From this letter we make an extract, to show that 
the aim of Presbyterians is to diffuse around all 
their institutions the same healthful moral atmos- 
phere which Mr. Wise so highly commends, when 
he speaks of his Alma Mater, in 1854: 

" TLirty-one years ago last October, before I had 
reached the age of twenty years, I went to Washing- 
ton, and entered the Sophomore Class in College, a 
wild Virginia youth, not ' free frae monie a blunder 
and foolish notion.' To me, a stranger, indeed, it 
was a 'strange land' — unlike any other I had ever 
seen before. The whole community, I found, was 
without exception almost a part of the College, and 
of the Church. Every man, woman, and child, was 
a moral presence in aid of police. 

" There was a moral suasion in the whole atmos- 
phere of the place, and in. the whole countenance 
there. Preaching, and prayer, and monition met me 
every moment, at every turn. There was a more 
omnipresent eye of Christian watchfulness, a more 
constant frown on the social countenance against 
vice, than I have ever seen or ever felt elsewhere or 
since. It was not College discipline which restrained 

* Objections to Calvinism, page 16. 



231 

us. That was parental, mild, indulgent, trusting to 
honour, and integrity and truth. You might, for 
aught of punishment or prevention by Professors, 
transgress, and yet you dare not. It did not seem 
to be natural there as at other places — it was not 
fashionable — you had no companions, no sympathy, 
no eclat. In three years I saw but two students who 
kept each other company in any sort of dissipation, 
and for them there was no hiding-place. Poor fel- 
lows! dear friends of mine, one of them came out 
from the President's room one day, weeping, and 
saying : ' 0, this I cannot bear — his cane I could 
bear — if he would only cudgel me I could endure it; 
but I cannot bear his love, like that of a father, and 
the pain which I see I inflict on him!' It was divine 
chastening, that. And such was the discipline in 
and out of the halls of Washington College." 

If then, such be the fruit which, according to the 
testimony of Arminians themselves, Calvinism has 
borne, the tree must be good, for " a corrupt tree 
cannot bring forth good fruit." Mat. vii. 17. 

If again, it is a sound principle, that when the 
testimony flatly contradicted every part of an indict- 
ment, the indictment is false; it ought to be with- 
drawn, therefore, on the testimony of those who 
make it. The testimony in this case, however, is 
just what the Scriptures lead us to expect. For if 
the people of Grod are " predestinated to be con- 
formed to the image of his Son," Rom. viii. 29, how 
can they have a " worse image than the devil?" 
If again, " he hath chosen us in Christ, that we 
should be holy, and without blame before him in 
love," Eph. i. 14; how is it possible that the 
doctrine which teaches this, can be the " direct 
antidote to heart-holiness, and do more than all the 
devices of Satan for fifty years to stop the work of 
God?" 



232 ARMINIANISM, ITS FRUIT. 

Finally : If " God hath from the beginning chosen 
his people through sanctification of the Spirit and 
belief of the truth," 2 Thess. ii. 13, and "created 
them in Christ Jesus unto good works,"' Eph. ii. 10, 
it would be the strangest thing under the sun, for 
those thus favoured, to be engaged in what has a 
tendency " to overthrow the whole Christian revela- 
tion," or to "represent our blessed Lord Jesus 
Christ, as a hypocrite, a deceiver of the people, and 
destitute of common sincerity." On the contrary, 
the Church that maintains that doctrine is the very 
one which might be expected to have "many surpass- 
ing excellencies, which others may well and wisely 
emulate." 

Having shown that the charge of an unholy 
tendency in Calvinism is not true, we will inquire 
next, whether Arminianism is " without spot or blem- 
ish, or any such thing." 

The historian Macaulay, referring to the time 
when Archbishop Laud nourished, says, a divine of 
that age, being asked by a simple country gentleman, 
"What the Arminians held," answered with as much 
truth as wit, "All the best Bishoprics and Deaconries 
of England."* 

The same historian, referring to the same period, 
says, " These were days never to be recalled without 
a blush ; the days of servitude without loyalty, and 
of sensuality without love." 

But we will pass over much that might be said 
here, and come down to the days of Mr. Wesley. 
That we may have the true state of matters fairly 
before us, we will notice in the outset the characters 
of many of the preachers whom he appointed and 
continued in office, that in conjunction with himself 
they might root out Calvinism, reform the Church, 
&c. Here it is important to observe, that from the 

* History of England, Vol. II. p. 74. 



ARMINIANISM, ITS FRUIT. 233 

first formation of Methodist societies in England, 
until Mr. Wesley's death, except for a short interval, 
he claimed and exercised exclusively, the power of 
appointing and controlling the preachers. Thus says 
Mr. Wesley: "After my return from Georgia, many 
were both awakened and converted to God. One 
and another, and another, of these, desired to join 
with me as sons in the gospel, to be directed by me. 
I drew up a few plain rules, (observe, there was no 
conference in being !) and permitted them to join me 
on these conditions. Whoever, therefore, violates 
these conditions, particularly that of being directed 
by me, in the work, does, ipso facto, disjoin himself 
from me." " They have a right to disjoin themselves 
from me, whenever they please, but they cannot, in 
the nature of things, join with me any longer than 
they are directed by me." "As long as I remain 
with them, the fundamental plan of Methodism 
remains inviolate. As long as any preacher joins 
with me, he is to be directed by me in his work."* 

Again, referring to a particular occasion, Mr. Wes- 
ley says, "I read in the society a paper, which I 
wrote twenty years ago. Herein I observed that the 
rules of our preachers were fixed by me, before any 
Conference existed, particularly the twelfth, viz. 
" Above all things, you are to preach when and 
where I appoint. "f 

It is true, Mr. Wesley " was prevailed upon with 
some difficulty" to share this power with his brother 
Charles, but as the former "seemed determined to be 
Caesar or nothing, the latter perceiving his brother's 
determination, and finding that the preachers became 
more prejudiced against him, thought it most prudent 
to withdraw. "J 

* Whitehead's Life of Wesley, page 232. 

f Ibid, page 231. } Ibid, page 167. 

20* 



234 ARMINIANISM, ITS FRUIT. 

Mr. Whitehead farther informs us, "that during the 
time Mr. Wesley, strictly and properly speaking, 
governed the societies, his power was absolute ;" 
that "there were no rights or privileges; no offices 
of power or influence, but what were created, or 
sanctioned by him; nor could any person hold them, 
but during his pleasure;" that " the whole system 
of Methodism, like a great and complicated machine, 
was formed under his direction, and his will gave 
motion to all parts, and turned it this way or that, 
as he thought proper;" that "his influence, like a 
mighty torrent, gathered' strength in its progress at 
every intermediate step between him and the people.* 

Here then, we see Mr. Wesley clothed with, and 
exercising, as complete and absolute spiritual power 
over the ministers and members under his care, as was 
ever claimed and exercised by man. This is not sur- 
prising of one whose biographers tell us he thought 
that "in the honour due to Moses, he also had a share, 
being placed at the head of a great people, by Him 
who had called them," and that "Methodism is the 
only religion worthy of God."f 

Let us inquire next, who were the preachers select- 
ed by Mr. Wesley. The first I shall notice, is the 
Rev. Miss, Mary Bosanquet. Frequent mention is 
made of her preaching, in the life of Mrs. Fletcher, and 
once in the open air, to a congregation of "between 
two and three thousand people." (See page 134.) 
Now as she tells us, page 138, that she "did nothing 
but what Mr. Wesley approved," and as the sole 

* Whitehead's Life of Wesley, page 292. 

j- Hampsoii's Life of Wesley, Vol. III. pp. 30, 85. Coke's Life 
of Wesley, p. 520. For these quotations and references, see "Magee 
on the Atonement," page 98. If the reader desires to know how 
Mr. Wesley managed, in the first creed he made for his followers, 
to prevent some portions of the Scriptures, and some Articles of the 
Church of England from conflicting with his peculiar views, he is 
referred to the same author, page 100. 



235 

power of appointing the preachers was with Mr. Wes- 
ley, she must have received her appointment from 
him. We have thus early, notice of female preachers 
in the Methodist church. Whether they have been 
numerous at any time, the writer does not know. 
They have however, occasionally appeared in that 
denomination, till as late as 1830, and possibly later. 
It is true female preachers are not mentioned among 
the twelve Apostles of our Lord, Matt. x. 3, 4^; 
nor among the seventy, whom he also sent out, Luke 
x. 1 ; nor in the Presbytery that ordained Paul and 
Barnabas, Acts xiii. 1 — 4. It is also true, that 
Paul says expressly, "Let your women keep silence 
in the churches;" "for it is a shame for women 
to speak in the church," &c. 1 Cor. xiv. 34, 35. 
And it is farther true, that he enjoined Timothy 
to commit the ministry to men. 2 Tim. ii. 2. But 
it is to be remembered that Mr. Wesley undertook to 
introduce a new order, and assert "woman's rights." 
As to the character of the preachers, let us hear 
Mr. Whitehead. 

"Mr. Wesley knew the views, the opinions, and 
jealousies of the preachers concerning each other, 
better than any other individual could possibly know 
them. He had persons in all places, who continually 
informed him of everything of importance that was 
said or done. From the beginning he had stood at the 
head of the connection, and by general suffrage had 
acted as dictator in matters relating to the govern- 
ment of the societies. He had often found that all 
his authority was barely sufficient to preserve peace, 
and the mere external appearance of unanimity, and 
therefore concluded that if his authority were to cease, 
or not to be transferred to another, at his death, the 
preachers and people would fall into confusion."* 
Here truly we have a state of things bad enough, 

* Life of Wesley, page 217. 



236 

especially for those who had undertaken to teach the 
people "a better way." 

1. We have the preachers so given to "jealousy," 
and jangling, that Mr. Wesley found it necessary to 
"have in all places" a police as watchful as Napo- 
leon had in Paris in the most troublous times. 

2. But notwithstanding all this vigilance, "he often 
found all his authority barely sufficient to preserve 
peace, and the mere external appearance of unanim- 
ity." It is not to be wondered at therefore, that "he 
feared lest at his death the preachers and people 
would fall into confusion." Nor was he alone in that 
opinion ; for Mr. Whitehead, speaking of Mr. Fletch- 
er, whom Mr. Wesley had invited to succeed him, says, 
" He well knew the embarrassment Mr. Wesley had 
met with in the government of the preachers, though 
he alone, under the providence of God, had given 
existence to their present character, influence and 
usefulness. He was also well acquainted with the 
mutual jealousies the preachers had of each other, and 
with their jarring interests; but above all, with the 
general determination that prevailed among them not 
to be under the control of any one man after the 
death of Mr. Wesley. Under these circumstances, 
he saw nothing before him but darkness, storms, and 
tempests, with the most threatening dangers, especial- 
ly if he should be left alone in the office. He there- 
fore determined not to launch his little bark on so 
tempestuous an ocean."* 

Thus far, the "jealousies and jarring interests" of 
these brethren, have been confined to themselves. 
The question naturally arises, Did it extend farther? 
On this subject Mr. Whitehead says, "I am sorry to 
confess that there are men among the preachers, of a 
most violent ungovernable spirit. These if they find 

f Life of Wesley, page 217. 



ARMINIANISM, ITS FRUIT. 237 

it necessary for any particular purpose to oppose an 
individual, or any number of individuals of character 
and influence in the society, use every method in their 
power, both in the pulpit and out, to make him ap- 
pear to the people as bad as the devil. Invention is 
on the rack to put the worst construction possible on 
everything he may say or do. Nay, they attribute 
many things to him, the very thought of which never 
entered his heart, till he found himself accused of 
them."* 

But let us hear Mr. Whitehead again. Speaking 
of the state of things that followed the death of Mr. 
Wesley, he says, "I readily acknowledge that his ab- 
solute and unlimited power has in its consequences 
since his death, been a great injury to the societies. 
It has been the parent of a system of government 
highly oppressive to many individuals, and much more 
injurious to the rights of the people than his own. 
He constantly acted as a middle person between the 
preachers and the people, the poor as well as the 
rich, against any insult or oppression they might re- 
ceive. At present, the preachers claim unlimited 
powers, both to make laws and to execute them, by 
themselves or their deputies, without any intermediate 
authority to act as a check in favour of the people. 
But what is much worse than all the rest, the present 
system of government among the Methodists requires 
such acts of human policy and chicanery to carry it 
on, as in my opinion are totally.inconsistent with the 
openness of gospel simplicity."f 

We have now seen something of the character of the 
preachers. As then, ministers of religion are the 
principal means of conveying to the people the spir- 
itual nourishment by which they live, and the princi- 
ples by which they are guided, if the adage "like 

* Life of. Wesley, page 230. f Ibid. pp. 293, 294. 



238 

priest, like people" be correct, we naturally expect 
the state of things among the people to have been 
bad enough. Let us see. In Mr. Wesley's Works, 
Vol. V. page 213, we find the following, viz. 

" The world say the Methodists are no better than 
other people. This is not true, but it is nearer the 
truth than we are willing to believe. For, 1. Personal 
religion, either toward God or man, is amazingly su- 
perficial among us. I can but just touch on a few 
generals. How little faith is there among us ! How 
little communion with God! . . . How much love of 
the world ! desire of pleasure, of ease, of getting 
money ! How little brotherly love ! What continued 
judging one another. What gossiping, evil speaking 
— talebearing! What want of moral honesty. . . . 
Family religion is shamefully wanting in almost every 
branch," &c. 

If then by "touching" only "on a few generals," 
Mr. Wesley who "knew everything of importance 
that was either said or done" among the brethren, 
could say so much, "personal religion either toward 
God or man," and "moral honesty" must have been 
"amazingly superficial" indeed! Again, 

Question 13. "Do not Sabbath breaking, dram 
drinking, evil speaking, . . . and contracting of debts 
without due care to discharge them, still prevail in 
several places? How may these evils be remedied?" 

Answer 2. "Read in every society, the sermon on 
Evil Speaking. 3. Let the leaders closely examine 
and exhort every person to put away the accursed 
thing. 4. Let the preachers warn every society that 
none who is guilty herein can remain with us. 5. Ex- 
tirpate smuggling, buying uncustomed goods, out of 

every society 6. Extirpate bribery, receiving 

anything directly or indirectly, for voting in any 
election."* 

* Whitehead's Life of Wesley, pp. 196, 197. 



ARMINIANISM, ITS FRUIT. 239 

Surely then, if " Sabbath breaking," "drnm drink- 
ing," "evil speaking," "contracting debts without due 
care to discharge them," "smuggling" and "bribery" 
so prevailed among the societies under Mr. Wesley's 
care, as to require the above action of the Conference, 
"the world" had reason to say "the Methodists are 
no better than other people." 

But again. "There were times," says Southey, 
"when Mr. Wesley perceived and acknowledged how 
little real reformation had been made in the great 
body of his followers." " Might I not have expected," 
said he, " a general increase of faith, and love, of 
righteousness and holiness, yea, and of the fruits of 
the spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, meekness, 
gentleness, fidelity, goodness, temperance? Truly, 
when I saw what God had done among his people 
forty or fifty years ago; when I saw them warm in 
their first love, magnifying the Lord, and rejoicing in 
God their Saviour, I could expect nothing less than 
that all these would have lived like angels, here be- 
low ; that they would have walked as continually 
seeing him who is invisible, having constant commu- 
nion with the Father and with the Son, — living in 
eternity, and walking in eternity. I looked to see a 
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, 
a peculiar people, in the whole tenor of their conver- 
sation showing forth His praise who had called them 
into his marvellous light. But instead of this, it 
brought forth error in ten thousand shapes. It 
brought forth enthusiasm, imaginary inspiration, as- 
cribing to the all-wise God, all the wild, absurd, self- 
inconsistent dreams of a heated imagination. It 
brought forth pride, prejudice, evil surmising, censori- 
ousness, judging and condemning one another, all 
totally subversive of brotherly love, which is the very 
badge of the Christian profession, without which who- 
soever liveth is counted dead before God. It brought 



240 

forth anger, hatred, malice, revenge, and every evil 
word and work, all direful fruits, not of the Holy 
Spirit, but of the bottomless pit. It brought forth 
such base grovelling affections, such deep earthly 
mindedness, as that of the poor heathens, which occa- 
sioned the lamentation of one of their own poets over 
them : 

' souls bowed down to earth, and void of God.' 

And he repeated from the pulpit a remark made 
upon the Methodists by one whom he calls a holy 
man, viz. that ' never was there before a people in the 
Christian Church who had so much of the power of 
God among them, with so little self-denial.' "* 

Such then is a summary of the fruits of Arminian- 
ism, during the life, and under the guidance of the 
prince of Arminians, as given by that prince himself. 
How an enemy could have added any thing to make 
it darker, is not easy to imagine. All that remains 
under this head is, that we present to the reader what 
Arminians say of themselves at the present time. 

In the Articles of Religion, and Discipline of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, we have the following, 
page 58, viz. 

" Personal religion either towards God or man, is 
too superficial among us. We can but just touch on 
a few particulars. How little faith is there among us ? 
How little communion with God ! How much love of 
the world! Desire of pleasure, of ease, of getting 
money! How little brotherly love ! What continual 
judging one another! What gossipping, evil-speak- 
ing, tale-bearing! What want of moral honesty," &c. 

Thus published the General Conference in 1844. 
Now the interrogatories — " How little," "How 
much," " What want," at the beginning, with an ex- 

f Southey's Life of Wesley, Vol. II. page 238. 



CLERICAL POWER AND RULE. 241 

clamation point at the close of each sentence, can 
allow them to convey no other meaning, than that in 
the Methodist Church, there is but little " faith," but 
little "communion with God," much "love of the 
world" — a great " desire of pleasure, of ease, of get- 
ting money." But little "brotherly love" — much 
"judging of one another" — much "gossipping" — 
much "evil speaking" — much "tale bearing" — a 
great " want of moral honesty," &c. If then by 
"touching" only "on a few particulars" they could 
say so much, it is evident that if they had gone 
into all the "particulars," they would have made out 
an account at the present time, about as sad as that 
of Mr. Wesley. We have before seen, what were its 
fruits among the preachers of that system ; we have 
now seen what are its fruits among the people. With 
what face then Mr. Wesley could say of Calvinism, 
" it is the direct antidote of heart-holiness," and " has 
done more than all the devices of Satan for fifty years, 
toward stopping this work of God," &c. is not for the 
writer to say. By some strange legerdemain, or other- 
wise, Mr. Wesley and the General Conference must 
have substituted Calvinism for Arminianism in the in- 
dictment. 

Having noticed incidentally, a part of what Dr. 
Whitehead says, of the power of Mr. Wesley and the 
Methodist clergy over the affairs of the Church, per- 
haps it may not be amiss to extend our quotation a 
little further before we take up. another objection. 

" His (Mr. Wesley's) influence, like a mighty tor- 
rent, gathered strength in its progress, at every in- 
termediate step between him and the great body of 
the people. Let us suppose, for instance, that on 
some important matter which concerned all the socie- 
ties, or the nation at large, Mr. Wesley gave his 
orders to the assistants dispersed through the three 
kingdoms: these would impress them on the other 
21 



242 CLERICAL POWER AND RULE. 

itinerants, in number together, let us suppose, three 
hundred. With the influence of this body, these or- 
ders would pass on to about twelve hundred local 
preachers in a vast variety of situations, who, in con- 
junction with the itinerants, would impress them on 
about four thousand stewards and class-leaders; and 
these, by personal application, might in a short time, 
enforce them on about seventy thousand individuals, 
members of the societies. In addition to this, we may 
suppose, the itinerant and local preachers, in the 
course of ten days or a fortnight, publicly address be- 
tween three and four hundred thousand people, when 
the same matter might be further urged upon them. 
Now what could stand against such influence as this, 
so combined, diffusive, and rapid in its progress, when 
once put in motion? If directed against any indi- 
vidual in the societies, whatever might be their cha- 
racter or influence, their opposition could only be like 
pebbles before a torrent rolling down the side of a 
mountain; it would be swept away without being 
perceived."* 

Such then, was the power of Methodism in the days 
of Wesley, as portrayed by a most intimate Methodist 
friend, his admirer, and at Mr. Wesley's request, his 
biographer. Now let it be borne in mind, that with 
the exception that there is not, as formerly, an arch- 
bishop at the head of the whole, it has undergone 
scarcely any modification since — that the church 
property must all be deeded to the Conferences, 
which Conferences are composed of preachers exclu- 
sively, having church property now under their exclu- 
sive control, to the amount of millions of dollars, 
that the church funds are all under the same control, 
and we may have some idea of the clerical power of 
Methodism. 

* Whitehead's Life of Wesley, pp. 292, 293. 



PREDESTINATION AN INCENTIVE TO EFFORT. 243 

But let us return to the notice of objections 
against predestination. Another is, that "it directly 
tends to destroy our zeal for good works."* But 
if this be true, its effects will surely be apparent 
in the champions who taught it. The reverse of 
this however has been shown to be true of Augustine 
of Hippo, and it is true of the Reformers generally, 
among whom this doctrine was held in common. No 
champions for it however, stood so prominent among 
them as John Knox, and John Calvin. The labours 
of Knox, though in a different sphere, were but little 
inferior to those of his cotemporary. In the latter 
part of his life, and when greatly enfeebled, "he 
preached twice every Sabbath, and three times during 
the week. He met regularly with the kirk session 
once a week, for discipline, and with an assembly in 
the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, for exercise in the 
Scriptures. He attended the meetings of the provin- 
cial Synod, and General Assembly, and at almost 
every meeting of the latter, received an appointment 
to preach in some distant part of the country." He 
still preached, although he was so feeble that he had 
to be carried to the pulpit. f 

"John Calvin was twenty years of age before he 
was converted from Rome to Christ. When, soon 
afterwards, this Theology struck its forces into his 
mind, it roused him to the utmost stretch of thought. 
It was like fire in his bones. So vital was this new 
life within him, that at the age of twenty-six he had 
deduced the entire system from the word of God, 
adjusted its elements into a master-piece of logical 
coherence, and published it to the world, in his 
immortal Institutes. The twenty-eight years of life 
that remained, were laden with affliction both of mind 
and body. Physical infirmities multiplied, until no 

* Doctrinal Tracts, page 164. 

f McCrie's Life of Knox, pp. 237, 324. 



244 PREDESTINATION 

less than seven distinct maiadies laid siege to his 
attenuated frame. He suffered also every private 
grief, even that domestic bereavement which he styled 
'an acute burning wound.' It is impossible to look, 
without wonder, at the labours he prosecuted, amidst 
all this weariness and painfulness. The products of 
his pen exist in nine huge folios of printed matter, 
besides several hundred letters, and more than two 
thousand sermons and Theological Treatises yet 
unpublished. He prepared a copious commentary on 
most of the Scriptures, edited a French translation of 
the word of God; disputed by tongue and pen with 
Bolzec on the doctrine of predestination, with West- 
phal and Heskius on the sacraments, with Witsius on 
free will, with Pighius on free grace, and Servetus on 
the Trinity. He wrote against relics, astrology, the 
Anabaptists, the Libertines and the Pelagians. He 
employed his weapon of wit and sarcasm in assailing 
the Sorbonne, his powers of argumentation in confu- 
ting the Tridentine Decrees, and his noble eloquence 
in behalf of the Emperor against the Pope. He cor- 
responded incessantly with his contemporaries, Farel, 
Viret, Beza, Melancthon, Knox, Cranmer, and the 
kings of Sweden, Poland and Navarre — projecting, 
by his long and masterly letters, his own intellectual 
and spiritual life into the leading minds of Europe. 
With an asthmatical cough, he lectured three days in 
the week on Theology, and preached daily on every 
alternate week. He presided at the court of morals, 
which met once a week, attended the frequent assem- 
bly of the clergy, assisted in settling the civil and 
ecclesiastical affairs of Geneva, founded there a semi- 
nary of liberal learning, and when the city was 
threatened with a siege, laboured at the fortifications. 
He educated preachers of the gospel; performed 
many journeys; was consulted on all important sub- 
jects; occupied the pulpits of his brethren in their 



AN INCENTIVE TO EFFORT. 245 

absence; visited in company with an elder, every 
family in the city once a year, and catechized the 
children. To form some idea of his activity, let us 
look at the letter which he wrote to Farel from Stras- 
burgh: — 'I remember no day in this whole year in 
which I have been so pressed with such a variety of 
occupations. When the messenger was prepared to 
take the beginning of my work with this letter, I had 
about twenty leaves to look through. I had then to 
lecture and preach, to write four letters, make peace 
between some persons who had quarrelled, and answer 
more than ten people who came to me for advice. 
Forgive me, therefore, if I write briefly." Besides all 
these things, he composed the dissensions which per- 
plexed the Reformers, and the strifes which afflicted 
the churches; and aided in settling the affairs of the 
Reformation, in Poland, France, Germany, Scotland, 
and England. At last, being compelled by mortal 
disease to relinquish public duties, he received in his 
chamber all who sought his advice, and wore out his 
amanuenses by dictating to them his works and 
letters. When his shortening breath and failing 
voice terminated these labours, his kindling eye and 
heaving breast indicated that he was in constant 
prayer. On a beautiful evening in May, just as the 
setting sun was irradiating with its purple light, the 
waters of the Leman and Rhone, the Jura moun- 
tains, and the more distant glaciers of the Alps, this 
great man rested from his labours. He gave direc- 
tions that his body should be buried without the 
slightest pomp, and that his grave should be marked 
by neither monument nor headstone. His commands 
were obeyed, and 'no man knoweth of his sepulchre 
unto this day.' " 

The above, with some additions, is taken from the 
sermon which the Rev. E. P. Humphrey preached at 
the opening of the Presbyterian General Assembly in 
21* 



246 PREDESTINATION 

1852 ; and no one who has read the life of Calvin, 
will consider it an exaggeration. It is not wonderful 
therefore, that Mr. Wesley should say, " John Calvin 
was a wise, learned, and pious man," and "a great 
instrument of God:" and that Dr. Fisk speaking of 
Geneva, should say, " To have given birth to a Cal- 
vin and a Beza, is honour enough of the kind for any 
city.'; 

It is true, that under the erroneous opinion of the 
age, and the belief, that the Jewish theocracy should 
be blended with the gospel, he encouraged the en- 
forcement of some Jewish laws, which, in substance, 
were the laws of Geneva, in several cases of extreme 
immorality, and in one case of extreme heresy. But 
it is also true that not a writer can be found, within 
forty years of the time, who doubted the propriety of 
the proceedings. 

George Whitefield was the cotemporary and friend 
of Mr. Wesley. The latter however, being a very 
zealous Arminian, and the former a decided Calvinist, 
this doctrinal difference interrupted their intimacy. 
Still it did not prevent Mr. Wesley, who survived 
Mr. Whitefield, from doing justice to his memory. 
From the funeral discourse which the former preach- 
ed, in reference to the death of the latter, we make 
the following extract, viz. 

"Have we read or heard of any person, since the 
Apostles, who testified the gospel of the grace of God 
through so widely extended a space — through so large 
a part of the habitable world ? Have we read or 
heard of any person who called so many thousands, 
so many myriads of sinners to repentance ? Above 
all, have we read or heard of any who has been a 
blessed instrument in the hand of God, for bringing 
so many sinners from darkness to light, and from the 
power of Satan unto God?" " God, with thee no 
word is impossible ! Thou dost whatsoever pleaseth 



AN INCENTIVE TO EFFORT. 247 

thee ! that thou wouldst cause the mantle of thy 
prophet, whom thou hast taken up, now to fall upon 
us that remain ! Where is the Lord God of Elijah ?" 

Thus spoke John Wesley, as well he might. In a 
ministry of thirty-four years, Mr. Whitefield crossed 
the Atlantic ocean thirteen times, and preached more 
than eighteen thousand sermons. This, in addition to 
his great amount of travel, his writing, and other du- 
ties, was on an average, considerably more than a 
sermon for every day of his ministry. One cannot 
but be amazed at the great amount of his labours. 
Not content with the bounds of a country or kingdom, 
he preached in almost every considerable place in 
England, Scotland, Ireland, and in the Colonies of 
North America; and it seemed as though he never 
preached in vain. A cotemporary says of him, that 
"in the compass of a single week, and that for years, 
he spoke forty hours, and in very many weeks, for 
sixty hours ; and then after his labours in public, of- 
fered up prayer and praise in every house to which 
he was invited, thus incessantly employing his whole 
strength, and as it were, every breath, in his sacred 
function."* 

Let us now hear Whitefield himself in reference to 
the great moving motive. Writing to Mr. Wesley, 
he says, "It is the doctrine of election that mostly 
presses me to abound in good works. I am made 
willing to 'suffer all things for the elect's sake.' This 
makes me preach with comfort, because I know salva- 
tion does not depend on man's free will, but the Lord 
makes them willing in the day of his power, and can 
make use of me to bring some of his elect home, when 
and where he pleases. "f 

Think too, of the labours of Brainerd and Martyn, 

* Venn's Sermon on the Death of Whitefield. 
f Gillies' Life of Whitefield, page 638. 



248 PREDESTINATION 

and a multitude like them, for the conversion'of the 
heathen; of Rowland Hill, Philip Doddridge, Legh 
Richmond, Thomas Scott, John Newton, Jonathan 
Edwards, Samuel Davies, William Tennent, Thomas 
Chalmers, Edward Payson, Robert Hall, Asahel Net- 
tleton, &c, &c, &c. Will any one say, that for abili- 
ty and zeal, and efficiency, they will not compare 
with an equal number of the ablest Arminians that 
can be named? 

It is worthy of remark also, that the General Con- 
ference has the biographies of the following staunch 
Calvinists among the standard publications of her 
Tract Society, viz. "Watts and Haliburton — Dick- 
inson and Janeway — Allein — Bunyan — Oberlin and 
Zuingle." The last in some respects was more Cal- 
vinistic than Calvin.* 

It is a very great mistake to suppose that the doc- 
trine of predestination tends to induce inactivity. 
Because Alexander the Great "was sensible that he 
was formed to possess all things — (that) such was his 
destiny, in this (therefore,) he made his happiness to 
consist,"! and it roused him to an energy and activity 
and perseverance, such as the world had never wit- 
nessed. Napoleon Bonaparte frequently spoke of 
his "destiny" also, and here we see a similar result. 
"When Columbus had formed his theory of finding 
land by sailing to the West, it became fixed in his 
mind with singular firmness, and influenced his entire 
character and conduct. He never spoke in doubt or 
hesitation, but with as much certainty as if his eyes 
beheld the promised land. No trial or disappoint- 
ment could divert him from the steady pursuit of his 
object. A deep religious sentiment, mingled with his 

* See First Annual Report, 1854. 
f Rollin, Vol. III. page 86. 



AN INCENTIVE TO EFFORT. 249 

meditations, and gave them at times a tinge of super- 
stition, but it was of a sublime and lofty kind: Tie 
looked upon himself as standing in the hand of Heaven, 
chosen from among men for the accomplishment of its 
high purpose."* 

In our day also, we have seen a spirit of "filibus- 
tering" roused by the " manifest destiny" of our 
people, such as the government can scarcely control. 
Nor would Arminians themselves complain, that their 
free agency was destroyed, or their energies para- 
lyzed, if they could persuade themselves that they 
were the elect of God, predestinated from eternity to 
put down Calvinism. 

The historian Bancroft, is therefore correct, when 
he says, "The political character of Calvinism, which 
with one consent, and with instinctive judgment the 
monarchs of Europe feared as republicanism, and 
which Charles I, declared a religion unfit for a gentle- 
man, is expressed in a single word — predestination. 
Did a proud aristocracy trace its lineage through 
generations of high born ancestry, the republican re- 
former with a loftier pride, invaded the invisible world, 
and from the book of life, brought down the record of 
the noblest enfranchisement, decreed from all eternity 
by the King of kings. His few converts defied the 
opposing world as a world of reprobates, whom God 
had despised and rejected. They went forth in con- 
fidence, that men who were kindling with the same 
exalted instincts, would listen .to their voice, and be 
effectually called into the brunt of the battle by their 
side. And standing serenely amid the crumbling 
fabrics of centuries of superstitions, they had faith in 
one another; and the martyrdoms of Cambray, the 
fires of Smithfield, and the surrender of benefices, by 

* Irving's Life of Columbus, Book I. Chap. vi. page 25. 



250 PREDESTINATION AN INCENTIVE TO EFFORT. 

two thousand non-conforming Presbyterian clergy- 
men, attest their perseverance."* 

Having shown that Calvinism, contrary to the 
charge preferred against it, is a powerful incentive to 
zeal, let us inquire whether Arminianism has always 
had the same effect. 

In a letter from Mr. Wesley to his brother Charles, 
we find the following, viz. " What is it that has eaten 
out the heart of half our preachers, particularly those 
in Ireland? Absolutely idleness; their not being con- 
stantly employed. I see it plainer and plainer."f 

Surely then if Mr. Wesley, who selected, watched 
over, and controlled all the preachers, could speak 
thus of " half" of them, the state of things must have 
been bad enough. Again, in the minutes of the Con- 
ference of 1770, we meet with the following, viz. 

Q. 23. " Why is it that the people under our care 
are no better?" 

A. " Other reasons may concur, but the chief is, 
because we are not more knowing, and more holy." 

Q, 24. "But why are we not more knowing?" 

A. " Because we are idle," &c.{ 

Before, we had the charge of idleness against 
"half the preachers," from Mr. Wesley, but now we 
have a more general charge, in reference to the same 
sin, from the whole Conference. " We are idle." 

All that remains under this head, is to show what 
Arminians say of themselves at the present time. 
The General Conference, speaking for all their 
preachers in 1844, says, "In ourselves there is much 
dulness and laziness. . . We have a base, man-pleas- 
ing temper," &c.§ 

Surely then, Arminians are the last people on earth 

* History of the United States, Vol. II. pp. 461, 468. 

f Whitehead's Life of Wesley, page 165. J Ibid, page 201. 

\ See Doctrine and Discipline, page 59. 



AN UNSATISFACTORY ANSWER. 251 

to bring the charge against Calvinism, that it " di- 
rectly tends to destroy our zeal for good works." 

But it is objected again, that " this doctrine pa- 
ralyzes the efforts of devotion and benevolence."* 

Let us. see. The Old-school Presbyterian Church, 
with 219,263 communicants, gave, in 1853, to the 
cause of Foreign and Domestic Missions, $234,724.16, 
making $1.06 on an average to each member. f The 
Methodist Episcopal Churches, North and South, 
with 1,298,767 communicants, gave to the same ob- 
jects, during the same year, $338,075.00, or about 
twenty-six cents for each member. J The matter then 
stands thus : an Arminian gives to an object twenty- 
six cents, to which a Calvinist gives four times as 
much, and yet the Arminian says, " Calvinism para- 
lyzes the efforts of devotion and benevolence." Added 
to this, it is proper to remark, that Arminians have a 
knack of getting hold of Calvinistic money, which 
cannot be said of Calvinists in reference to Arminian 
money, and which would considerably curtail their 
figures. 

But, says the Rev. R. S. Foster, "Will you appeal 
to facts, that such is not the tendency of your sys- 
tem ? I shall reply that they are incompetent to meet 
the case; that admitting them to be different from 
what it is alleged the system would make them, this 
would only prove that the system had not always 
worked out its legitimate results ; that the bad and 
disastrous influence had in sorne instances been coun- 
teracted by the presence of some wholesome ele- 
ments.'^ 

Here it is admitted that Calvinism has produced 
some good fruits, but it is contended that this is un- 

* Calvinistic Controversy, p. 56. 

f See Minutes of the Assembly, pp. 604, 607. 

j Almanac of the Methodist Episcopal Church, North, for 1855. 

\ Objections to Calvinism, page 60. 



252 AN UNSATISFACTORY ANSWER. 

natural, and in defiance of the system. It has been 
shown, however, that where an Arminian gives twenty- 
six cents to a benevolent object, a Calvinist gives a 
dollar. Mr. Foster himself says, "The Presbyterian 
Church has many surpassing excellencies — many which 
the Methodist Church would do well to emulate." Mr. 
Wesley, on the contrary, after giving a summary of 
the fruits of Arminianism in his day, and under his 
control, said they were the "direful fruits of the bot- 
tomless pit." And the account of the General Con- 
ference in 1844, in reference to the same subject, is 
but little better. The matter then will stand thus. 
Notwithstanding Calvinism is (according to Armin- 
ians) anti scriptural and corrupt, and Arminianism 
pure and scriptural throughout, the former has borne 
good fruit, and the latter has borne bad fruit. Our 
Saviour taught, Matt. vii. 18, that "a good tree cannot 
bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring 
forth good fruit." Arminians, however, reverse this, 
and teach that a good tree bringeth forth evil fruit, 
and a corrupt tree bringeth forth good fruit. 

Again. Our Saviour said, Matt. xii. 23, "Either 
make the tree good, and his fruit good, or else make 
the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt, for the tree is 
known by its fruits." But according to Arminians 
this should be — Either make the tree good and his 
fruit corrupt, or else make the tree corrupt and his 
fruit good, for the tree is not known by its fruits. 

Mr. Foster, after having written nearly sixty octavo 
pages against the alleged errors of Calvinists, without 
naming or alluding to any of the fruits of these er- 
rors, except " many of surpassing excellence which 
his own Church would do well to emulate ;" says, " Cal- 
vinism has produced, and does now produce the fruits 
charged against it." That it is to the fruits of the 
system, and not to the errors, he alludes, is evident 
from what immediately follows, viz. "It does so, not 



AN UNSATISFACTORY ANSWER. 253 

only in some, but in many, if not all instances, where 
it is not neutralized b}' the presence of more powerful 
principles of belief, existing coetaneously in the mind. 
It is innocent only when it is practically disbe- 
lieved."* 

As then, Mr. Foster does not name any of these 
fruits himself, which he says, "Calvinism has pro- 
duced, and does now produce," he must refer to "the 
fruits charged against it," in the Doctrinal Tracts, 
Calvinistic Controversy, Theological Institutes, &c. 
But if it has been so "neutralized" that "from the 
earliest ages Calvinists have excelled, in no small de- 
gree, in the practice of the most rigid and respectable 
virtues, and have been the highest honour to their 
own age, and the best models for imitation for every 
succeeding age;" if it was so "neutralized in Au- 
gustine" that he was by far the holiest and most 
useful man of his day — and in Calvin, so that he was 
" a great instrument of God" — a lasting honour to the 
city in which he lived, having introduced into it such 
a state of morals as constrained John Knox to say, 
"I have not seen in any other place manners and re- 
ligion so sincerely reformed;" and the historian Ban- 
croft to say, "The light of Calvin's genius scattered 
the mask of darkness, to which superstition had held 
the brow of religion for centuries before ; his probity 
w T as unquestionable, his morals spotless, and when he 
died he left to the world a purer reformation," &c; 
if it was so "neutralized in John Knox," and the 
Presbyterians of Scotland, that, in the language of Dr. 
Chalmers, " Scotland, which of all the countries of 
Europe is the most signalized by the rigid Calvinism 
of her pulpits, is also most signalized by the moral 
glory that sits on the aspect of her population;" if 
it was so "neutralized" among the Puritans of Eng- 
land, that " there was not a play acted in any theatre 

* Objections to Calvinism, page 60. 

22 



254 AN UNSATISFACTORY ANSWER. 

for about twenty years; profane swearing, drunken- 
ness, nor any kind of debauchery were seen or heard 
in the streets, and the Lord's day was observed with 
unusual reverence;" if it was so "neutralized" in 
George Whitefield, and a host of others, that to a re- 
markable degree they were "the salt of the earth," 
&c; if finally, it has been so neutralized in the United 
States, that a Calvinist gives more than four times as 
much to objects of benevolence as an Arminian, and 
the Presbyterian Church has "many surpassing ex- 
cellencies which Arminians would do well to emu- 
late;" it is after all a very harmless affair. 

But as Arminians hold to two sides at least of 
every question in the Calvinistic controversy, it is 
proper to hear what they have to say on the other 
side, also. 

Mr. Adams, of Lynn, a part of whose letter has 
been given already, says, "You should not forget that 
among the Calvinists are some of the greatest Chris- 
tian and biblical scholars now upon the stage ; that 
among them are large numbers of able, devoted and 
excellent ministers, at whose feet you and I would 
delight to sit and receive instruction. Nor should you 
forget, that by these same heretics, almost every 
benevolent cause is fostered and encouraged — the 
largest missionary operations are carried forward, 
and the most vigorous efforts are made to save the 
world." 

The Rev. Dr. Elliot, editor of the Western Chris- 
tian Advocate, thus expressed himself in an editorial 
a few years ago: 

"The Presbyterians of every class were prominent 
and even foremost in achieving the liberties of the 
United States. They have been all along the leading 
supporters of constitution and law, and good order. 
They have been the pioneers of learning and sound 
knowledge, from the highest to the lowest grade, and 
are now its principal supporters. The cause of morals 



AN UNSATISFACTORY ANSWER. 255 

and good order has always found them first to aid, 
and among the last to retire from its support." 
. Finally, the Christian Advocate and Journal, of 
April, 1845, says, " These advocates of an enslaved 
will, are the steadfast friends of human liberty. To 
promote it they have always been ready to pour out 
their blood like water. They are the men to confront 
councils and kings, though there be as many devils 
there as there are tiles on the roofs of the houses. 
They are the friends of education — the publishers of 
the Bible — the sleepless defenders of their country's 
liberty — the emancipators of the press — the observers 
of the Sabbath — the inflexible opponents of priestly 
dominion — the friends of the people — the unflinching 
martyrs for the truth. How can we do otherwise 
than love them ? They are worthy ! They are called 
Calvinists, but they are Christians and freemen." 

Thus spake two of*the organs of the General Con- 
ference. Surely then, Calvinism does not " directly 
tend to destroy our zeal for good works," " nor para- 
lyze our efforts in the work of benevolence and love." 

Having noticed all the principal, and indeed very 
nearly every objection urged against Calvinism, in the 
Doctrinal Tracts, Calvinistic Controversy, and Theo- 
logical Institutes, I will close this part of my work 
with a passage from Paul: 

"For this is the word of promise: 'At this time 
I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.' And not 
only this, but when Rebecca had also conceived by 
one, even by our father Isaac, '(for the children being 
not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, 
that the purpose of God according to election might 
stand, not of works, but of him that calleth,) it was 
said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger : as it 
is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. 
"What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness in 
God? God forbid!" 

To this plain case of sovereign unconditional elec- 



256 _ PERSONS AWAKENED MERELY 

tion, the Apostle supposes the objection of unright- 
eousness in the proceeding to be raised. To this he 
replies without attempting to explain the deep mys- 
tery. "God forbid." With the Rev. Mr. Watson he 
seems to have thought that " God has a right to se- 
lect whom he pleases to enjoy special privileges," and 
that "in this there is no injustice." "For he saith 
to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have 
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will 
have compassion. So then it is not of him that will- 
eth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that show- 
eth mercy. For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, 
Even for this purpose have I raised thee up, that I 
might show my power in thee, and that my name 
might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore, 
hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and 
whom he will, he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then 
unto me, Why doth he yet find fault, for who hath re- 
sisted his will?" 

Here Paul supposes, that as God had raised up 
Pharaoh for a particular purpose, an objector will ask, 
" Why doth he yet find fault, for who hath resisted 
his will?" Or as God has expressed it by Jeremiah, 
" Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and 
swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk 
after other gods whom ye know not; and come and 
stand before me in this house, which is called by my 
name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abom- 
inations?" Jer. vii. 9, 10. To an objection so blas- 
phemous, the Apostle, without attempting to remove 
the supposed difficulty, viz. that they were " de- 
livered to do these things," replies, "Nay, but man, 
who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the 
thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast 
thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over 
the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto 
honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, 
willing to show his wrath, and to make his power 



SHOULD NOT BE BAPTIZED. 257 

known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels 
of wrath fitted for destruction, and that he might 
make known the riches of his glory, on the vessels of 
mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, even 
us whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but 
also of the Gentiles." Romans ix. 9, &c. Thus 
teaching that inasmuch as " God giveth not account 
of any of his matters," Job xxxiii. 13; and "it is 
his glory to conceal a thing," Pro v. xxv. 2 ; it is the 
height of presumption and folly in man, to attempt 
to fathom the high mystery, of the propriety of which 
there can be no doubt. The reader will observe also, 
that while the Apostle represents God, as forming, 
like a potter, out of the same clay, " one vessel unto 
honour, and another unto dishonour," he at the same 
time represents him, as "enduring with much long- 
suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction," 
and " making known the riches of his glory on the 
vessels of mercy which he had before prepared unto 
glory." If then, these unfathomable mysteries did 
not perplex an inspired Apostle, they shall not per- 
plex me. If he did not doubt the wisdom and equity 
of the proceeding, neither will I. If God "endures 
with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted 
for destruction," I will be careful not to provoke him 
by my sins. And finally, if there shall be but one 
"vessel of mercy prepared afore unto glory," I will 
"use diligence to make my calling and election sure," 
so that if possible," I may be that " vessel." 

Having noticed, so far as we are aware, all the ob- 
jections which Arminians urge against the divine de- 
crees, we will close this chapter with the notice of 
another objection urged against Calvinists, viz. that 
they do not baptize those who are awakened merely. 
Thus says Bishop Morris, " True penitents are proper 
subjects of baptism. 

1. ''Baptism is one of the means of grace, and 
22* 



258 PERSONS AWAKENED MEEELY 

therefore suitable for penitents who need all the help 
they can get. So Peter understood it, as appears 
from the advice he gave those who were smitten un- 
der his preaching : "Now when they heard this, they 
were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and 
to the rest of the Apostles, Men and brethren, what 
shall we do ? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, 
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus 
Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive 
the gift of the Holy Ghost." Acts ii. 37, 38.* 

" Here we cannot but mark the difference between 
the system of some Calvinistic teachers, and that of 
the gospel. Their system is, 1. Conversion; 2. Re- 
pentance; 3. Pardon; and lastly, Baptism. But 
Peter's arrangement is, 1. Repentance; 2. Baptism; 
3. Pardon; and 4. The witness of the Spirit." 

Such is the hostility of Arminians to Calvinism that 
they not only go out of their way to give it a blow, 
but even then, they cannot find it in their hearts to 
do it fairly. Divines make a distinction between re- 
generation and conversion. With that distinction, 
what Bishop Morris lays down for Calvinists as first 
in the order, is, according to Calvinists themselves, 
the third. But to the objection — of Abraham it is 
said, " He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of 
the righteousness of the faith which he had, yet being 
uncircumcised." Rom. iv. 11. Now, if the Abra- 
hamic covenant is the covenant of the Church, and 
baptism, in the Christian Church, takes the place of 
circumcision in the Jewish, we will find the teaching 
of the Scriptures in reference to baptism, to corres- 
pond with their teaching in reference to circumcision. 
Circumcision, was to an adult "a seal of the right- 

* The reader need hardly be informed that "the gift of the Holy 
Ghost" does not here refer to regeneration, but to its then common 
miraculous influence. See Mark xvi. 17; Acts i. 5; ii. 4; viii. 
14—17; xix. 1—6; 1 Cor. xii. 8—13. 



SHOULD NOT BE BAPTIZED. 259 

eousness of the faith which he had, being yet uncir- 
eumcised." Of course, then, it would not have been 
proper for an adult, who was without piety, to receive 
it. Psalm 1. 16, 17. So also in reference to baptism. 
When the Eunuch inquired of Philip, "What doth 
hinder me to be baptized?" Philip replied, "If thou 
believest with all thine heart, thou mayest."* Al- 
though then Peter did say to those who had inquired, 
"What shall we do?" "Repent and be baptized," 
&c. it is evident from what immediately follows, viz. 
"with many other words did he testify and exhort" 
— they gladly received the word and were baptized" 
. . . continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine . . . 
all that believed were together . . . and the Lord 
added daily to the Church such as should be saved :" 
we say, from this it is evident that these penitents 
were, at the time of their baptism, regenerated be- 
lievers, and so were, according to Calvinists, proper 
subjects of the ordinance. Let us now have a 
word about the practice of Arminians on this sub- 
ject. 

Baptism was not required at all in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in the United States till in 1828. f 
We could name one, at least, who, although he has 
been a communicant in that Church for more than 
thirty years, has never been baptized. Probably there 
are many others. The habit also of admitting pro- 
bationers to the Lord's supper without baptism, is, so 
far as our knowledge extends, almost universal, not- 
withstanding the Scriptures say expressly in reference 
to the passover, " No uncircumcised person shall eat 
thereof." Exodus xii. 48. Further, although one doc- 
trine of the Methodist Episcopal Church, is, that in- 
fants dying without baptism go to perdition, no 

* Acts viii. 36, 37. See also Mark xvi. 16. 
f Minutes of the General Conference for 1828. 



260 MISREPRESENTATIONS. 

Church which holds the ordinance of infant baptism, 
neglects it so much. Finally, although there is no 
authority in Scripture, or in reason, for baptizing a 
child unless one of the parents, at least, is a professed 
believer,* Arminians baptize the children of all who 
apply for it, whether the parents are pious or not. 
Surely then, they should pluck the real beams out of 
their own eyes, before they give themselves so much 
concern about a supposed mote in another's eye. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

ANTI-CALVINISTIC MISREPRESENTATION S. 

Dr. Fisk, in the sermon with which he introduces 
the Calvinistic Controversy, says, "They (Calvinists) 
hold that God by his decree plunged Adam and all 
his race into the pit of sin, from which none of them 
had the means of escape," &c. In reference to this, 
Calvin says, "The primitive condition of man was 
ennobled with these eminent faculties. He possessed 
reason, understanding, prudence and judgment, not 
only for the government of his life on earth, but to 
enable him to ascend to God, and eternal felicity. . . 
In this integrity, man was endowed with free will, by 
which, if he had chosen, he might have obtained 
eternal life. For here, it would be unreasonable to 
introduce the question respecting the secret predesti- 

* Abraham " received circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of 
the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised," Rom. iv. 11; and 
on that faith his household were circumcised, Gen. xvii. 26, 27; 
Acts xvi. 14, 15, 30—33; 1 Cor. vii. 14; Heb. xi. 6; Psalm 1. 16. 



MISREPRESENTATIONS. 261 

nation of God, because we are not discussing what 
might possibly have happened or not, but what was 
the real nature of man. Adam, therefore, could have 
stood, if he would, since he fell merely by his own will. 
Because his will was flexible to either side, and he 
was not endued with constancy to persevere, there- 
fore he so easily fell. Yet his choice of good and 
evil, was free," &c* 

"Man in his state of innocency, had freedom and 
power to will, and to do that which is good and well- 
pleasing ; but yet mutably, so that they might fall 
from it."f 

" Our first parents, being left to the freedom of 
their own will, through the temptation of Satan, 
transgressed the commandment of God, in eating the 
forbidden fruit, and thereby fell from the estate of 
innocency wherein they were created. "J 

Here then is one misrepresentation; let us notice 
another. In the introduction to "Foster's Objec- 
tions to Calvinism," page 10, we meet with the follow- 
ing, viz. "We doubt not that many, after perusing 
these pages, will fully acquiesce with Calvin, in term- 
ing as he did, the decree of predestination, a 'horri- 
ble decree." : A similar statement may be found in 
Watson's Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxvii; 
in the Doctrinal Tracts, page 197, and in Arminian 
authors generally. 

As this is a misrepresentation of Calvin, so common, 
we will take a somewhat careful notice of it. And, 
1. The English word horrible, commonly suggests 
the idea of moral evil, but the Latin word horri- 
bilis, has no such meaning associated with it. Ains- 
worth renders it — 1. Rough, rugged. 2. Horrible, 
terrible, dreadful, frightful. 3. Weighty, severe. 

* Institutes, Book I. Chap. xv. Sec. viii. 
f Confession of Faith, Chap. ix. Sec. ii. 
X Larger Catechism, Question 21. 



262 MISREPRESENTATIONS. 

4. Awful, reverend. From this classification, it is 
evident that horrible does not mean anything im- 
proper. 2. The connection shows that Calvin did not 
attach to the word horribilis, the meaning his 
enemies represent; hence the only translation of his 
Institutes that has come under our notice, renders the 
original Latin word "awful" instead of "horrible," 
just as the sense requires. Calvin, in view of the 
awful consequences involved in the fall of our first 
parents, says of the divine decree in reference to it, 
" Horribile decretum confiteor." It is an awful 
decree, I confess; just as we would say of the decree 
to bring on the deluge — of the decree for the destruc- 
tion of Sodom and Gomorrah; or of the decree in 
reference to the eternal punishment of the wicked, &c. 
3. On the very next page, in the same chapter, he 
says, "Predestination is no other than a dispensation 
of divine justice, mysterious indeed, but liable to no 
blame. Since they (the wicked) were not unworthy 
of being predestinated to that fate, it is equally cer- 
tain that the destruction the/ incur, is consistent with 
the strictest justice." And on the next page he says, 
"The ordination of God, by which (the wicked) com- 
plain that they were destined to destruction, is guided 
by equity, unknown indeed to us, but indubitably cer- 
tain. Whence we conclude that they sustain no 
misery which is not inflicted on them by the most 
righteous judgment of God."* 

The following is taken from the Christian Intelli- 
gencer of March, 1854. 

" The Horrible Decree.— In the current number of 
the Methodist Quarterly, a writer alludes twice to 
predestination as being called by Calvin himself a 
'horrible decree.' The second time he goes so far as 
to give the original Latin, decretum horribile. This 

* Institutes, Vol. II. Book III. Chap, xxxiii. Sec. 8, 9. 



MISREPRESENTATIONS. 263 

charge has been made frequently before in the same 
Review. It is wonderful that this stale and ridiculous 
story has not been long since exploded. Every rea- 
sonable person gives Calvin credit for at least ordinary 
piety and sense. How then could he have admitted 
that a doctrine which he believed and taught to be in 
the Scripture was horrible? Does it not involve a con- 
tradiction? Can a man really believe the Deity to do 
that which is horrible? It seems to us that he must 
either renounce his belief in such a Being as divine, 
or his conviction of the true character of his acts. 
The two cannot co-exist." 

These remarks might be extended, but enough 
has been said to satisfy any one in search for truth, 
of the great injustice done to Calvin, and con- 
tinued. 

In the Calvinistic Controversy, we have the follow- 
ing, in the sermon : 

" It is said that God out of his mere sovereignty, 
without anything in the creature to move him thereto, 
elects sinners to everlasting life." 

" It is said !" But where is it so said ? Calvinists 
do not know, and Arminians do not tell us. In the 
Confession of Faith, Chap. III. Sec. v., it is said, 
" Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, 
God . . . hath chosen in Christ, unto everlasting 
glory, out of his mere free grace and love, without 
any foresight of faith or good works, or perse- 
verance in either of them, or any other thing in 
the creature, as conditions or causes moving him 
thereunto." 

So then, while Arminians charge Calvinists with 
teaching " that God out of his mere sovereignty . . . 
elects sinners to everlasting life," Calvinists them- 
selves teach that it is " out of his mere free grace and 
love." Arminians teach that "faith in Christ, pro- 
ducing obedience, is a cause, without which God elects 



264 MISREPRESENTATIONS. 

none unto glory."* Calvinists contend, on the con- 
trary, that if this be true, then, of all who die in in- 
fancy, not one enters heaven ; that if those who die 
in infancy are saved, then at least two-thirds of all 
that are saved are elected unto glory without " faith 
in Christ producing obedience." So that Arminians 
are compelled to yield this point, or give up the doc- 
trine of infant salvation. 

But, says the Arminian, "if there is nothing in the 
creature to move him (God) thereto, how can it be 
called mercy or compassion ?"f 

To this, Calvinists reply, they do not say " there is 
nothing in the creature to move him thereto," but 
that election is not based upon "a foresight of faith, 
or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or 
any other thing in the creature, as conditions or 
causes, moving him thereunto;" and for the truth of 
their doctrine, they appeal to the word of God. Thus, 
Rom. xi. 5, " Even so then at this present time, 
there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 
And if by grace, then it is no more of works; other- 
wise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then 
is it no more grace; otherwise work is no more work." 
Eph. ii. 8, "For by grace are ye saved, through faith ; 
and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not 
of works, lest any man should boast; for we are his 
workmanship, created anew in Christ Jesus unto good 
works, which God hath before ordained that we should 
walk in them." He " hath saved us, and called us 
with an holy calling, not according to our works, 
but according to his own purpose and grace, which 
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." 
2 Tim. i. 9. 

Notwithstanding the Scriptures are thus full and 

* Doctrinal Tracts, page 140. 

f Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. 



MISREPRESENTATIONS. . 265 

explicit, the Arminian goes, if possible, beyond it. 
Thus Mr. Wesley, in his sermon on " Salvation by 
Faith," says : " Of yourself cometh neither your faith 
nor your salvation. It is the gift of God ; the free 
undeserved gift, the faith through which ye are saved, 
as well as the salvation which he of his own good 
pleasure, his mere favour annexes thereto. That ye 
believe, is one instance of his grace; that believing 
ye are saved, another. Not of works, lest any man 
should boast, for all our works, all our righteousness, 
which were before our believing, merited nothing of 
God, but condemnation. So far were they from de- 
serving faith ; which therefore whenever given is not 
of works. Neither is salvation of the works we do 
when we believe. For it is then God that worketh in 
us. And therefore, that he giveth us a reward for 
what he himself worketh, only commendeth the riches 
of his mercy, but leaveth us nothing whereof to 
glory." 

If then " faith in Christ producing obedience, is a 
cause without which God elects none unto glory;" 
and if "of ourselves cometh neither our faith nor our 
salvation," " faith being the gift of God," and "he 
giveth us a reward for what he himself worketh," un- 
less " he worketh" this faith in all, he must have 
selected those in whom he works it. But this is the 
personal unconditional election of the Calvinists. So 
then we have the Calvinistic views of that doctrine, 
sustained by Arminians, by fact, and by the word of 
God. Surely then it must be true. 

Having disposed of two misrepresentations, we pro- 
ceed to a third. 

" All choice," says the Rev. R. Watson, "neces- 
sarily supposes some reason ; but as men, all things 
"were equal between those, who according to this 
scheme were chosen, and those who were passed by; 
but according to the Calvinists this election was made 
23 



266 MISREPRESENTATIONS. 

arbitrarily, that is, without any reason, but that God 
would have it so."* 

" If misery had been the exciting cause," says Dr. 
Fisk, " then as all were equally miserable, he would 
have elected them all."f 

If then, " faith in Christ producing obedience, is a 
cause without which God elects none unto glory," as 
" all choice necessarily supposes some reason," and 
"as all are equally miserable," it follows, that unless 
all were elected, the election was made arbitrarily, 
that is, without any reason but that God would have 
it so. 

But were not Jacob and Esau equal, when "being 
not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, 
that the purpose of God according to election might 
stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, it was 
said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger?" 

If the position of Arminians be true, how did it 
happen that redemption was provided for fallen man 
but not for fallen angels ? How did it happen that 
God passed by all other nations, and made the Jews 
only the repositories of his word? Why was not 
Elias sent to any but the widow of Sarepta, a city of 
Sidon, during the famine? Why were none of the 
lepers cleansed but Naaman the Syrian? No doubt, 
if an Arminian had been there, he would have 
reasoned thus, "If misery is the exciting cause" to 
the divine compassion, "then, as all" these widows 
and lepers are alike miserable, they should all be 
elected to the divine favour. Again, if this position 
be correct, why were Paul and Silas forbidden of 
the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, yet sent 
for that object into Macedonia? And why did our 
Heavenly Father pass by millions of infants, yet 
sanctify John the Baptist and Jeremiah from the 



* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, 
f Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon. 



MISREPRESENTATIONS. 267 

womb ? But although God himself says, in reference 
to such proceedings, "I will have mercy on whom I 
will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom 
I will have compassion;" "so that it is not of him 
that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that 
showeth mercy," Rom. ix. 14, &c. ; and although 
the Saviour says in reference to such proceedings, 
"Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight;" 
the Arminian "is very bold and says," "all choice 
necessarily supposes some reason, but as all things 
were equal between those who were chosen, and those 
who were passed by, this election was made arbitra- 
rily, that is, without any reason but that God would 
have it so." It is not wonderful therefore that John 
Knox should say of such writers, "The fountain of 
this their heresy is, that they acknowledge no justice 
in anything, except what their foolish brain is able to 
comprehend."* 

It is delightful therefore to find these divines sober- 
ing down, and teaching a better theology. The 
Rev. R. Watson says, "It is the nature of an infinite 
being to be incomprehensible by finite beings. He 
must be mysterious. The train of his glory must 
enwrap itself in cloud. And after all these bursts of 
splendour, it is still true that 'the Lord hath said that 
he would dwell in thick darkness.' If we could fully 
know God, we must either be equal to him, or he 
must lose the glory of his nature and come down to 
us." "0 then, my God, let me remember this, when 
dark and inexplicable dispensations surround me ! I 
cannot fathom thy counsels, but I know that in them 
there is the highest reason. Let me remember this, 
when I look abroad on thy public dispensations to the 
world. If I cannot trace thy footsteps as to myself, 
how much more intricate must be thy plans, as to 
millions of immortal men. But what is dark to me 

* McCrie's Life of Knox, page 138. 



268 MISREPRESENTATIONS. 

is light to thee. . . It is the imperfection of the 
creature which creates (darkness) as the mists arising 
from the earth, and gathering into clouds may obscure 
the brightness of the sun, while his own region is 
undimmed by a vapour. . . Let me remember this 
when bold men would tempt me to speculate by the 
aids of my own weak reason on thy perfections. I 
shrink from the attempt. I content myself with thy 
own word — with the measure of light it hath pleased 
thee to give. I dare not break through to gaze where 
' dark with excessive bright, thy skirts appear.' "■* 

A fifth misrepresentation is, that the divine de- 
crees, as maintained by Calvinists, are "arbitrary;" 
that is, without any reason. 

" The Calvinistic view of God's sovereignty," says 
Watson, appears to be his doing what he wills, only 
because he wills it."f 

u We call this sovereignty, not indeed in the sense 
of many Calvinistic writers, who appear to understand 
by the sovereign acts of God, those procedures which 
he adopts only to show that he has power to execute 
them," &c.J 

Again, speaking of "the collective election, and 
rejection taught in" the ninth chapter of Romans, he 
says, " They are not acts of arbitrary will, or of ca- 
price ; they are acts of wisdom and knowledge, the 
mysterious bearings of which are to be in future times 
developed. '0 the depth both of the wisdom and 
knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judg- 
ments, and his ways past finding out!' These are 
the devout expressions with which St. Paul concludes 
his discourse ; but they would ill apply to the sove- 
reign, arbitrary and unconditional reprobation of men 
from God's mercies, in time and in eternity, on the 
principle of taking some and leaving others without 

* Sermon on the "Vision of Isaiah." 

f Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxviii. 

% Ibid. Part II. Chap. xxvi. 



MISREPRESENTATIONS. 269 

any reason in themselves. There is no plan in this; 
no wisdom ; no mystery ; and it is capable of no further 
development for the instruction and benefit of the 
world. For that which rests originally on no reason, 
but solely on arbitrary will, is incapable, from its very 
nature, of becoming the component part of a deeply 
laid, and for a time, mysterious plan, which is to be 
brightened into manifest wisdom, and to terminate in 
the good of mankind, and the glory of God."* 

These are specimens of what may be found in the 
Theological Institutes. But notwithstanding we are 
here told of the "arbitrary election of the Calvinists," 
of "sovereign, arbitrary reprobation, on the principle 
of taking some, and leaving others, solely on arbitrary 
will;" of "many Calvinistic writers who appear to 
understand by the sovereign acts of God, those pro- 
ceedings which he adopts only to show that he has 
power to execute them," &c; the writer takes it 
upon himself to say, that these are samples of the 
slanders that abound in Arminian writings, and that 
not a Calvinistic writer can be adduced who teaches 
any of the things here charged. The Confession of 
Faith, after saying, "there is but one only living and 
true God, who is infinite in being and perfection," 
says of him, among other things, that he is "most 
wise, most holy, working all things according to the 
counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will; 
hating all sin;" that "by the most wise, and holy 
counsel of his own will, he did freely and unchangably 
ordain whatsoever comes to* pass," &c; that he 
" doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all crea- 
tures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to 
the least, by his most wise and holy providence, ac- 
cording to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free 
and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise 
of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness 

* Theological Institutes, part II. Chap. xxvi. 

23* 



270 MISREPRESENTATIONS. 

and mercy;" that "the Almighty power, unsearch- 
able wisdom, and infinite goodness of God, so far mani- 
fest themselves in his providence, that it extendeth 
itself to the first fall, not by a bare permission, but 
such as hath joined with it a most wise and powerful 
bounding, and otherwise ordering and governing of 
them, in a manifold dispensation to his holy ends."* 
Calvinists do not believe, therefore, that there is, or 
can be, any " arbitrary decree" or act, by such a 
being. In such a God, they can repose under all cir- 
cumstances. And though "clouds and darkness are 
round about him," and they meet with many things 
in his word, and in his providence, they do not under- 
stand, yet with the holy Apostle they exclaim, " 
the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and know- 
ledge of God; how unsearchable are his judgments, 
and his ways past finding out." Rom. xL 33. 

But we say further, that neither are any of the 
errors here charged, taught by John Calvin. As 
against him, there is a special charge, and as it em- 
braces the others last named, we will give that charge 
a special consideration. 

Mr. Watson, after his statement of "the scheme, as 
exhibited by Calvin," says, " To the objection taken 
from justice, Calvin replies," 'They (the objectors) 
inquire, by what right the Lord is angry with his 
creatures who had not provoked him by any previous 
offence; for to devote to destruction whom he pleases, 
is more like the caprice of a tyrant than the lawful 
sentence of a judge. If such thoughts ever enter into 
the minds of pious men, they will be sufficiently en- 
abled to break their violence by this one considera- 
tion — how exceedingly presumptuous it is, to inquire 
into the causes of the divine will, which is in fact, and 
is justly entitled to be, the cause of every thing that 
exists ! For if it has any cause, then there must be 

* Confession of Faith, Chap. II.— V. 



MISREPRESENTATIONS. 271 

something antecedent on which it depends, which it is 
impious to suppose. For the will of God is the 
highest rule of justice; so that what he wills must be 
considered just, for this very reason, because he 
wills it.' 

"The evasions," says Watson, "are here curious. 
1. He assumes the very thing in dispute, viz. that 
God has willed the destruction of any part of the hu- 
man race, for no other cause than because he wills 
it; of which assumption, there is not only not a word 
in Scripture; but on the contrary, all Scripture des- 
cribes the death of him that dieth to his own will, and 
not to the will of God, and therefore contradicts his 
statement. 2. He pretends that to assign any cause 
to the divine will, is to suppose something antecedent 
to, something above God, and therefore 'impious;' as 
if we might not suppose something in-God to be the 
rule of his will, not only without impiety, but with 
truth and piety; as for instance, his perfect wisdom, 
holiness, justice and goodness: or, in other words, to 
believe the exercise of his will to flow from the per- 
fection of his whole nature; a much more honourable 
and scriptural view than that which subjects it to no 
rule, even in the nature of God himself. 3. When he 
calls the will of God, 4 the highest rule of justice, be- 
yond which we cannot push our inquiries,' he con- 
founds the will of God as a rule of justice to us, and 
as a rule to himself. This will is our rule, yet even 
then, because we know it is the will of a perfect 
being; but when Calvin represents mere will, as con- 
stituting God's own rule of justice, he shuts out know- 
ledge, discrimination of the nature of things and 
holiness; which is saying something very different to 
that great truth, that God cannot will anything but 
what is perfectly just. It is to say, that blind will, 
which has no respect to anything but itself, is God's 
highest rule of justice ; a position, which if presented 
abstractedly, many of the most ultra Calvinists would 



272 MISREPRESENTATIONS. 

spurn. 4. He determines the question by the autho- 
rity of his own metaphysics, and totally forgets that 
one dictum of inspiration overturns his whole theory: 
God 'willeth all men to be saved;' a declaration 
which in no part of the sacred volume is limited by 
any contrary declaration."* 

We could easily show that these objections are sui- 
cidal, but as we shall show that the teaching of Cal- 
vin is perverted, it is unnecessary. 

Calvin says, "It is exceedingly presumptuous to 
inquire into the causes of the divine will," "because 
the will of God is the highest rule of justice, so that 
what he wills must be considered just, for this very 
reason, because he wills it," meaning that, an infinite- 
ly wise, and just, and holy God, " wills it." That 
such is his meaning, is evident from the fact that, 
thirteen lines below, what Mr. Watson quotes, he 
indignantly repels what Mr. Watson charges. "We 
espouse not," says he, "the notion of the Romish 
theologians concerning the absolute and arbitrary 
power of God, (that is, power exercised by arbitrary 
will,) which on account of its profaneness, deserves 
our detestation. We represent not God as lawless, 
who is a law to himself; because as Plato says, laws 
are necessary to men, who are the subjects of evil de- 
sires; but the will of God is not only pure from every 
fault, but the highest standard of perfection, even the 
law of all laws. But we deny that we are proper 
judges, to decide on this cause according to our own 
apprehensions. Wherefore, if we attempt to go be- 
yond what is lawful, let us be deterred by the Psalm- 
ist, who tells us that God will be clear when he is 
judged by mortal man."f "Let us, I say, permit the 
Christian man to open his heart and his ears to all 
the discourses addressed to him by God, only with 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxviii. 
f Institutes, Book III. Chap, xxiii. 



MISREPRESENTATIONS. 273 

this moderation, that as soon as the Lord closes his 
sacred mouth, he shall also desist from further inqui- 
ry. This will be the best barrier of sobriety, if in 
learning, we not only follow the leadings of God, but 
as soon as he ceases to teach, we give up our design 
of learning."* 

From this it appears, that what Mr. Watson charges 
on Calvin, Calvin calls profane, and says it deserves 
detestation. 

It may not be amiss to remark, that the very objec- 
tions urged by Mr. Watson, were urged against Cal- 
vin's teachings in Calvin's day. Let us see how he 
replied to his calumniator. 

" The first article you take hold of is, that God, by 
a simple and pure act of his will, created the greatest 
part of the world for destruction. Now all that about 
the greatest part of the world, and the simple pure 
act of the will of God, is fictitious, and the product of 

the workshop of your malice This way of 

talking is nowhere to be met with in my writings, 
viz. that the end of creation is eternal destruction. . . 
Besides, though the will of God is to me the highest 
of all reasons, yet I everywhere teach, that where the 
reason of his counsels and his works does not appear, 
the reason is hid with him ; so that he always decreed 
justly and wisely. Therefore, I not only reject, I de- 
test the trifling of the schoolmen, about absolute pow- 
er, because they separate his justice from his authori- 
ty. I subjecting, as I do, the human race to the 
will of God, loudly declare that he decreed nothing 
without the best reason, which if unknown to us now, 
shall be cleared up at last. You, thrusting forward, 
a 'simple and pure act of the will,' impudently up- 
braid me with that which I openly reject, in a hun- 
dred places or more."f 

We have now heard from Calvin, let us hear from 
the sacred writers also. 

* Institutes, Chap. xxi. f Secret Providence, pp. 17, 18. 



274 MISREPRESENTATIONS. 

" Of his own will he begat us by the word of truth." 
James i. 18. "Having predestinated us unto the 
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, ac- 
cording to the good pleasure of his will." "Being 
predestinated according to the purpose of him who 
worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." 
Eph. i. 5, 11. 

Why, this is fully up to Calvin. Not a reason is 
assigned for what is done but " his will," "the good 
pleasure of his will," " according to the counsel of his 
own will," "as if we might not suppose something in 
God to be the rule of his will; as for instance, his per- 
fect wisdom, justice and goodness, or in other words, to 
believe the exercise of his will to flow from the per- 
fection of his whole nature ; a much more honourable 
and scriptural view, than that which subjects it to no 
rule, even in the nature of God himself." "When 
(the Apostles) represent mere will, as constituting 
God's rule of justice, they shut out knowledge, dis- 
crimination of the nature of things, and holiness, 
which is saying something very different from that 
great truth, that God cannot will anything but what 
is perfectly just. It is to say that blind will which 
has respect to anything but itself, is God's highest 
rule of justice ; a position which, if presented ab- 
stractedly, many of the most ultra" (Apostles) 
"would spurn."* 

The "judgments of God are a mighty deep," "his 
wisdom is unsearchable and his ways past finding 
out." " He giveth to none account of his affairs," 
and "it is his glory to conceal a thing." As then, 
"the secret things belong unto the Lord our God, 
while that which is revealed belongeth unto us, and 
to our children for ever, that we may do all the words 
of this law," Calvin did not "desire to be wise above 
what was written." He therefore taught that the 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxviii. 



MISREPRESENTATIONS. 275 

will of an infinitely wise, and just, and holy " God, is 
the highest rule of justice; so that what he wills must 
be considered just, because he wills it;" that such a 
"God is a law unto himself, his will being not only 
free from every fault, bnt the highest standard of 
perfection, even the law of laws," and therefore that 
"it is exceedingly presumptuous in men to inquire 
after the reasons for what he wills, farther than he 
has been pleased to reveal them." But Calvinism is 
very much objected to; it may not be amiss therefore, 
to hear what Arminians say on the same subject. 

"In creatures," says Watson, "holiness is confor- 
mity to the will of God as expressed in his laws, and 
consists in abstinence from every thing which has 
been comprehended under the general term sin, and 
in the habit and practice of righteousness. . . . Our 
conception of holiness in creatures, both in its nega- 
tive, and in its positive import, is therefore explicit. 
It is determined by the will of God. But when we 
speak of God, we speak of a being who is a law unto 
himself, and whose conduct cannot be referred to a 
higher authority than his own."* 

" Of a being who is a law unto himself, and whose 
conduct cannot be referred to a higher authority than 
his own!" — Of course then, it would be the height of 
presumption in the subjects of such a being, to inquire 
after, or judge of his reasons for what he wills, further 
than he has been pleased to reveal them. Here then, 
is the real (though not the shamefully misrepresented) 
teaching of Calvin, by Mr. Watson himself. 

Again. " In many respects, so far as we are con- 
cerned, we see no other reasons for his proceedings, 
than that he so wills to act."f 

"No other reason for his proceedings, than that he 
so wills to act!" — Why, Mr. Watson! what do you 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. vii. 
f Ibid. Part II. Chap, xxviii. 



276 MISREPRESENTATIONS. 

mean ? Is it possible, after all your fuss about "blind 
arbitrary will," "the arbitrary decrees of his will," 
&c, and the fuss of your brethren who endorse your 
sentiments, that you yourself go further than the fur- 
thest, in charging the Almighty with " the arbitrary 
decrees of his will." 

How then, it may be asked, does Mr. Watson ex- 
tricate himself? Why, by turning a Calvinist. But 
hear him, in continuation of what we have just quoted: 
" But it is an error to conclude from want of informa- 
tion in such cases, that God acts, merely because he 
so wills to act, that because he gives not those reasons 
for his conduct which we have no right to demand, 
that he acts without any reasons at all; and because 
we are not admitted to the secrets of his council cham- 
ber, that his government is perfectly arbitrary, and 
that the mainspring of his dispensations is to make a 
show of his power; a conclusion which implies a most 
unworthy notion of God, which he has himself contra- 
dicted in the most explicit manner. Even his most 
mysterious proceedings are called 'judgments,' and 
he is said to 'work all things according to the coun- 
sel of his own will,' a collation of words which suf- 
ficiently shows that not blind will, but will subject to 
4 counsel,' is that ' sovereign will that governs the 
world.' " 

Having noticed some of the glaring misrepresenta- 
tions by Messrs. Fisk and Watson, and which have 
been endorsed by the General Conference, before we 
proceed to others, by other writers of the same school, 
we wish to call the attention of the reader to the profes- 
sions of fairness and candour of the said writers. 

Dr. Fisk says, in his preliminary remarks, "It is 
hoped, at least, that the subject may be investigated 
in the spirit of Christianity, and that there will be no 
loss of brotherly love and Christian candour, if there 
be no gain on the side of truth."* 

f Calvinistic Controversy, pp. 7, 8. 



MISREPRESENTATIONS. 277 

Mr. Watson, speaking of the "extent of the atone- 
ment," says, "This inquiry leads us into what is 
called the Calvinistic controversy; a controversy 
which has always been conducted with great ardour, 
and sometimes with intemperance. I shall endeavour 
to consider such parts of it, as are comprehended in 
the question before us, with perfect calmness and fair- 
ness, &c, recollecting on the one hand, how many 
excellent and learned men have been arranged on 
each side By many ministers who have at- 
tacked this system, the truth which it contains, as well 
as the error, has often been invaded, and the assault 
itself has been not unfrequently conducted on princi- 
ples exceedingly anti-scriptural and fatally delusive."* 

Again: after having carried his inquiry through 
three successive chapters, he says, " In this discourse 
it is hoped that no expression has hitherto escaped in- 
consistent with candour. Doctrinal truth would be as 
little served by this as Christian charity."f 

The reader can judge how far these writers have 
acted in accordance with their professions. 

Perhaps the following, from the Encyclopoedia of 
Religious Knowledge, article "Richard Watson," 
may throw some light on Mr. Watson's course. 

"We can discover, we think, the embryo polemic, 
in the youth of fifteen; for he owed at this, the 
period of his conversion, his hatred to Calvinism. 
The worthy helpmate of a watchmaker, his particular 
friend and assistant in mathematical studies, was of 
this obnoxious school, 'talkative and violent.' To 
provide himself with arguments against her attacks, 
young Watson first sought the Methodists, and 'the 
word,' says Mr. Jackson, 'came with power to his 
heart.' He was now no longer solicitous for contro- 
versy, but for a better acquaintance with himself; and 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxv. 
f Ibid. Part II. Chap, xxviii. 

24 



278 MISREPRESENTATIONS. 

not many days elapsed, after he was convinced of sin, 
before he was made a happy partaker of pardoning 
grace. 

" We can neither doubt that he largely partook of 
this grace, nor that he was in after years one of the 
ripest and ablest advocates of it in England. But 
who, on the other hand, can dispute the powerful 
influence of the female polemic's unhappy temper on 
the thwarted young mathematician? Mr. Watson, in 
particular passages of his printed works, discovers an 
antipathy to the name and forms of Calvinistic argu- 
ment, which has, we confess, often surprised us. It 
is singularly unlike the ordinary march of his majestic 
mind, and the style of his latter preaching, as report- 
ed to us. Will not a Christian philosophy detect in 
many a personal anecdote of this kind, a very obvious 
source of prejudices, not otherwise to be accounted 
for?" 

But again, Mr. Wesley, in his sermon on "The 
Trinity," says, " Persons may be quite right in their 
opinions, and yet have no religion at all. And on 
the other hand, persons may be truly religious who 
hold many erroneous opinions. Can any one possibly 
doubt of this while there are any Romanists in the 
world ? For who can deny, not only that many of them 
formerly have been truly religious, but that many of 
them even at this day, are real inward Christians? 
And yet what a heap of erroneous opinions do they 
hold, delivered by tradition from their fathers ! Nay, 
who can doubt of it while there are Calvinists in the 
world — asserters of absolute predestination? For 
who will dare to affirm that none of these are truly 
religious men? Not only many of them in the last 
century were burning and shining lights, but many of 
them are now real Christians, loving God and all 
mankind. And yet what are all the absurd opinions 
of all the Romanists in the world compared to that 
one, that the God of love, the wise, the just, merciful 



MISREPRESENTATIONS. 279 

Father of the spirits of all flesh, has from all eternity, 
fixed an absolute, unchangeable, irresistible decree, 
that part of mankind shall be saved, do what they 
will, and the rest damned, do what they can?" 

"A skeptical author," says Bishop Morris, "is a 
sinner that destroys much good." Verbal sayings 
are soon forgotten, but printed sophistry fills with 
poison the veins of future generations. With poison? 
Yes, what better than moral poison are the sophisms 
of infidels, such as Volney, Hume, and Paine; or 
the dogmas of Arianism and Socinianism, such as 
are commonly found in the productions of Unitarians, 
Universalists, Hicksites, and Shakers; or in the 
idolatrous ceremonies of Popery; as bowing to 
images, praying to saints, and the worship of the 
host in the mass? And we ask, what better than 
moral poison, are a few distinctive features in Cal- 
vinism, such as (that)* u God from all eternity, did 
freely and unchangeably foreordain whatsoever comes 
to pass?* Of a piece with this, are the immutable 
decrees of unconditional election, and reprobation. 
What mischief have these various doctrines done to 
the souls of men ! by the printing or circulating of 
which, a man destroys much good that might other- 
wise be effected. "f 

The doctrines here charged, however, have been 
shown to be, not of the Presbyterian but of the Me- 
thodist Church. These Popish, Socinian, and Infidel 
companions, of course belong to Arminians, but not 
to Calvinists. The bishop and the archbishop have 
saddled the wrong horse, merely. 

Again, in Mr. Wesley's Works, Vol. V., page 238, 
we have the following in reference to Calvinism, viz. 
" It seems to magnify Christ, although in reality it 
supposes him to have died in vain. Eor the absolutely 

* Here Bishop Morris garbles, and thus perverts the Confession 
of Faith, 
f Sermon on the Achievements of Sinners. 



280 MISREPRESENTATIONS. 

elect, must have been saved without him, and the non- 
elect cannot be saved by him." 

To prove this to be slander, would seem to be a 
work of supererogation; still it may not be altogether 
amiss, as we intend to do our work thoroughly. 

The answer to the sixtieth question of the Larger 
Catechism of the Presbyterian Church, says (among 
other things,) "Neither is their salvation in any other, 
but in Christ alone." To sustain this answer, refer- 
ence is made to Acts iv. 12, which is as follows, viz. 
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is 
none other name under heaven given among men 
whereby we must be saved."* 

Two very brief passages from Calvin, out of very 
many that might be given, will show conclusively 
what were his views on this subject. 

"Christ," says he, "speaks not of his own time 
only, but comprehends all ages, when he says, ' This 
is eternal life, to know thee, the only true God, and 
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.' John xvii. 3. 
Therefore God never showed himself propitious to 
his ancient people, nor afforded them any hope of his 
favour without a mediator. "f 

These quotations, which might be increased to al- 
most any number, suffice to show that Mr. Wesley 
could not have made a statement more directly at war 
with the truth. But we must proceed. 

In the Doctrinal Tracts, page 26, the Calvinist is 
charged as follows, viz. " In making this supposition 
of what God might have, done, (viz. "have passed 
him by,") "you," (the Calvinist,) " suppose his justice 
might have been separated from his other attributes, 
from his mercy in particular." 

By no means. The Calvinist does not think so. 
He thinks such a proposition blasphemous, but we 

* Confession of Faith, page 175. 
f Institutes, Book II. Chap. vi. 



MISREPRESENTATIONS. 281 

find that doctrine taught in the Methodist Doctrinal 
Tracts, and that too in the same Tract in which it is 
charged against Calvinists. Thus they say, page 57, 
" The sovereignty of God appears, 1. In fixing from 
eternity that decree touching the sons of men — ' He 
that believeth shall be saved, he that believeth not, 
shall be damned.' 2. In all the general circum- 
stances of creation; in the time, the place, manner of 
creating all things; in appointing the number and 
kinds of creatures, visible and invisible. 3. In allot- 
ting the natural endowments, these to one, and those 
to another. 4. In disposing the time, place, and 
other outward circumstances (as parents, relations) 
attending the birth of every one. 5. In dispensing 
the various gifts of his Spirit for the edification of his 
Church. 6. In ordering all temporal things, as health, 
fortune, friends, every thing short of eternity. But 
in disposing the eternal states of men (allowing only 
what was observed under the first article,) it is clear, 
that not sovereignty alone, but justice, mercy and truth 
hold the reins." 

Here then, it is stated that the sovereignty of 
God appears in ordering all temporal things; "but in 
disposing the eternal states of men, not sovereignty 
alone, but justice, mercy and truth hold the reins." 
It is therefore a doctrine of the Methodist Church, that 
God is sovereign only in reference to the affairs of 
time, but both sovereign and just in reference to the 
things of eternity. Or in other words, unjust in time, 
but just in eternity. The reader must not suppose 
that Arminians hold to no other doctrine on this sub- 
ject. If they did, however erroneous, they would be 
consistent. In the same Tract they say, on pages 26 
and 31, " All his" (God's) "attributes are inseparably 
joined; they cannot be divided for a moment." 
"Take care, when you speak of these high things, to 
speak as the oracles of God ; and if so, you will never 

24* 



282 MISREPRESENTATIONS. 

speak of the sovereignty of God, but in conjunction 
with his other attributes." 

The writer is here reminded of a man he once knew, 
who, being a notorious offender in little, things, built 
his house directly over the county line; consequently, 
when a civil officer came from one county to arrest 
him, he (the offender,) would go into that part of his 
house which was in the other county, and politely in- 
vite the officer in. The reader can make the applica- 
tion. 

Some years ago a sect sprung up in the West, 
which after a time, met in convention to make out a 
creed. After an effort of several days they unani- 
mously agreed on the following, viz. "Our belief 
consists in that wherein we differ from other denomi- 
nations." Notwithstanding the editor of the Western 
Christian Advocate says, in a late editorial,* "A 
thorough revision of the Westminster Confession of 
Faith, embodying Wesleyan doctrines, and expurga- 
ting the Manichean elements, would be a noble work, 
and then the Confession of Faith would be the master- 
piece of the world;" he who undertakes "an embodi- 
ment of Wesleyan doctrines," will find it a Herculean 
task, and the embodiment to consist of as heteroge- 
neous materials as could be thrown together. 

Again, in the Doctrinal Tracts, page 127, we 
have the following, viz. 

" Some roundly assert, there are no calls ofgrace, 
no offers at all, in the word of God, to any but the 
elect." 

'Some roundly assert" — but these are not named, 
nor (as the writer believes) were they ever heard of. 

Again : " As this doctrine manifestly and directly 
tends to overthrow the whole Christian Revelation, 
so it does the same thing by plain consequence, in 
making that revelation contradict itself. For it is 

* See a number of that paper for November, 1853. 



MISREPRESENTATIONS. 283 

grounded on such an interpretation of some texts, 
(more or fewer, it matters not) as flatly contradicts 
all the other texts, and, indeed, the whole scope and 
tenor of Scripture. For instance: the asserters of 
this doctrine, interpret that text of Scripture, ' Jacob 
have I loved, and Esau have I hated,' as implying 
that God in a literal sense hated Esau, and all the 
reprobate from eternity." 

Here again, is mere assertion without reference to 
any authority to sustain it. The writer has examined 
the Calvinistic commentaries he has access to, and 
not one of them interprets the passage as is charged, 
but contrary. So far as he is aware, the following is 
substantially the interpretation of all Calvinists, viz. 
In Gen. xxix. 33, Leah says she was bated of her 
husband; while in the 30th verse, Moses says, 
" Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah." In Luke 
xiv. 26, our Saviour says, " If any man come to me, 
and hate not his father and mother, and wife, and 
children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own 
life also, he cannot be my disciple." While he says 
again, in Mat. x. 37, John xii. 25, " He that loveth 
father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me, 
and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is 
not worthy of me." " He that loveth his life shall 
lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall 
keep it unto life eternal." As, therefore, when 
Jacob is said to have loved Rachel and hated Leah, 
all that is meant is, that he loved Leah less than he 
loved Rachel; and when it is said, "except a man 
hate his father and his motber, &c, he cannot be a 
disciple of Christ," all tbat is meant is, that he must 
love them less than he loves Christ ; so also when 
God is said to have loved Jacob and hated Esau, all 
that is meant is, that he loved Esau less than he 
loved Jacob. 

Again, in the Doctrinal Tracts, page 157, the 
following question is proposed to Calvinists, viz. 



284 MISREPRESENTATIONS. 

"Do you not believe God hardens the hearts of 
them that perish? Do you not believe he (literally) 
hardened Pharaoh's heart, and that for this end he 
raised him up, (or created him?") 

To this we reply, first, that the words "literally" 
and " or created him," are not used by either Moses 
or Paul. In the case referred to, they are to be set 
down as Arminian interpolations. Divested of these, 
Calvinists receive the passage. 

As to "literally hardening," &c, the writer knows 
of nothing that looks more that way, than the 
following from Dr. Fisk, viz. " God blinds men and 
hardens their hearts judicially, as a just punishment 
for their abuse of their agency."* 

But again: "The Calvinists believe," says Wesley, 
" that the saving grace of God is absolutely irresist- 
ible, that no man is any more able to resist it than 
a stroke of lightning."f 

"You say, the reprobates cannot but do evil; and 
that the elect, from the day of God's power, cannot 
but continue in well doing. You suppose all this is 
unchangeably decreed, in consequence whereof God 
acts irresistibly on one, and Satan on the other," 
"so that your supposition of God's ordaining from 
eternity whatsoever should be done to the end of the 
world, as well as that of God's acting irresistibly in 
the elect, and Satan's acting irresistibly in the repro- 
bates, utterly overthrows the Scripture doctrine of 
rewards and punishments, as well as of a judgment 
to come."{ 

Again, on page 49, the Calvinist is represented as 
saying, "It is not so much for the glory of God to 
save a man as a free agent, put into a capacity of 
either concurring with, or resisting his grace, as to 



* Calvinistic Controversy, the Sermon, 
f Works, Vol. VI. page 184. 
J Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 37, 38. 



MISREPRESENTATIONS. 285 

save him in the way of a necessary agent, by a 
power which he cannot possibly resist." 

The sum of all is, that according to Calvinists, the 
elect are irresistibly compelled to be holy, and the 
reprobate irresistibly compelled to sin ; or that 
"God acts irresistibly on one, and Satan on the 
other." 

To this we reply — these divines teach themselves, 
as has been already shown, that God cannot control 
free agents without destroying their free agency, 
w T hile the devil can — that there are some only whom 
he can " conform to the image of his Son," and yet 
that " there are exempt cases wherein the over- 
whelming power of divine grace does, for a time, 
work as irresistibly as lightning from heaven;" and 
that, in some souls, " the grace of God is so far irre- 
sistible that they cannot but believe and be finally 
saved." And yet these men charge Calvinists with 
teaching that " God acts irresistibly on the elect, and 
Satan irresistibly on the reprobate." 

Finally : " This doctrine (viz. personal uncon- 
ditional election) is highly injurious to Christ our 
mediator, and to the efficacy and excellency of his 
gospel. For it supposes his mediation to be neces- 
sarily of none effect with regard to the salvation of 
the greater part of the world."* 

"They" (Calvinists) "affirm that the far lesser 
number have received saving grace. "f 

" The same Lord over all is rich in mercy to all 
that call upon him." Rom. x. 12. "But you" (the 
Calvinist) " say, No, he is such only to those for 
whom Christ died, and those are not all, but only a 
few."t 

In the Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 139, 140, Arminians 
tell us that " God, from the foundation of the world, 
foreknew all men believing or not believing, and 

f Ibid. p. 124. % Ibid. p. 167. 



286 MISREPRESENTATIONS. 

according to this, his foreknowledge, he chose or 
elected all obedient believers as such, to salvation, 
and refused or reprobated all disobedient believers, as 
such to damnation." As then believers in any age 
have been, when compared with the unbelievers, very 
few, and are likely to be so, until the near approach 
of, and during the millennium, if we confine salvation 
to them, Arminians do not teach that any more will 
be saved than Calvinists do. 

But again, according to the Doctrinal Tracts, 
"Faith and obedience is a cause without which God 
elects none unto glory." This then, shuts out all 
who die in infancy and early childhood. It is true 
the Doctrinal Tracts, and discipline of the Methodist 
Church, make baptized infants who die, an exception, 
but the number of them is comparatively very small. 
While then the Calvinist believes that all who die in 
faith, and in infancy and early childhood are saved, 
which makes up more than two-thirds of those who 
die in an age, it is the Arminian who teaches that u the 
efficacy of the gospel, and mediation of Christ is 
necessarily of none effect to the greater part of the 
world," that "the far lesser number have received 
saving grace," and that God "is rich in mercy to a 
few only" of the human family. 

We have now presented the reader with samples 
of the misrepresentations of Calvinism, with which 
Arminian writings abound. We think he will con- 
clude with us, that Mr. Watson was correct w T hen he 
said, "By many writers who have attacked this 
system, the truth it contains has been invaded, and 
the assault itself has been not unfrequently conducted 
on principles exceedingly anti-scriptural, and fatally 
delusive." 



287 



CHAPTER XIV. 



GARBLED QUOTATIONS. 

The late Rev. Samuel Miller, D. D., speaking of 
Calvinism^ has correctly remarked, that "no theolo- 
gical system was ever more grossly misrepresented, 
or more foully vilified" — that "it would be difficult to 
find a writer or speaker, who has distinguished him- 
self by opposing it, who has fairly represented the 
system, or who really appeared to understand it ; 
that "they are for ever fighting against a carica- 
ture."* Let us try to find the starting point. First, 
then, we will call the reader's attention to their garb- 
ling of the Confession of Faith. 

Chap. iii. Sec. 1, of that document, is as follows, 
viz. "God from all eternity did, by the most wise 
and holy counsel of his own free will, freely and 
unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass, yet so 
as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is 
violence offered to the will of the creature, nor is the 
liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, 
but rather established." 

This, the General Conference have garbled as 
follows, viz. "God from all eternity did unchange- 
ably ordain whatsoever comes to pass."f 

So then, while the Confession of Faith teaches 
that God's ordination is, "by the most wise and holy 
counsel of his own free will," after this Arminian 
garbling, it is ordination merely, without wisdom, 
holiness, or counsel. " There is in it, no plan, no 
wisdom, no mystery, and it is capable of no further 

* Miller on Presbyterianism and Baptism, pp. 26, 27. 
f Doctrinal Tracts, p. 8. 



288 GABBLED QUOTATIONS. 

development for the instruction and benefit of the 
world."* 

It may be proper to remark, that this quotation 
thus garbled, may be found several times in the works 
of Wesley, twice in the Doctrinal Tracts, page 194, 
and four times in the Calvinistic Controversy, viz. 
pages 9, 22, 47, 60, &c. &c. 

It is true, that the first time it appears in the 
latter, and the second time it appears in the former, 
reference is made to the "Assembly's Catechism, 
Chap, iii." But as the Catechism is not divided into 
chapters, nor is there any question about the divine 
decrees near question third, there can be no doubt 
that Chapter third of the Confession of Faith was 
intended. 

Again, in Chap. v. Sec. 4, of the Confession of 
Faith, we have the following, viz. 

"The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and 
infinite goodness of God, so far manifest themselves 
in his providence, that it extendeth itself even to the 
first fall, and to all other sins of angels and men, and 
that not by a bare permission, but such as hath joined 
with it a most wise and powerful bounding, and other- 
wise ordering and governing them, in a manifold dis- 
pensation, to his own holy ends, yet so as the sinful- 
ness thereof proceedeth only from the creature and 
not from God, who being most holy and righteous, 
neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin." 

So says the Confession of Faith: let us see next 
how this is quoted by Mr. Wesley and the General 
Conference. 

In "A dialogue between a Predestinarian and his 
Friend," we have the following, f viz. 

"Friend. Does sin necessarily come to pass? 

"Predestinarian. Undoubtedly; for the almighty 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxvi. 
f See the Doctrinal Tracts, page 195. 



GAKBLED QUOTATIONS. 289 

power of God extends itself to the first fall, and to 
all other sins of angels and men."* 

Although then, the Confession of Faith teaches, 
that the power, wisdom and goodness of God, so far 
manifest themselves that his providence extends to 
all sin, and that although he permits it, he is not the 
author or approver of it; and further, that in per- 
mitting it, he hath joined with the permission, a most 
wise and powerful bounding, and otherwise ordering, 
and governing it, in a dispensation to his own holy 
ends," &c; these "sinless" garblers make it teach, 
that men and angels, have by Almighty power been 
forced to sin. 

It is proper to remark, that although the Catechism 
is referred to here also, for the reasons already given, 
the Confession of Faith must have been intended. 

Again : The Confession of Faith, Chap. iii. Sec. 5, 
is as follows, viz. 

" Those of mankind, that are predestinated unto 
life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, 
according to his eternal and immutable purpose, and 
the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will, hath 
chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory, out of his 
mere free grace and love, without any foresight of 
faith or good works, or perseverance in either of 
them, or any other thing in the creature, as condi- 
tions, or causes moving him thereunto ; and all to the 
praise of his glorious grace." 

Let us see next how Mr. Wesley and the General 
Conference have garbled this.* 

" Those of mankind that are predestinated unto 
life, God, before the foundation of the world hath 
chosen in Christ, unto everlasting glory, without any 
foresight of faith and good works. "f 

While then, the Confession of Faith teaches, that 
the people of God were chosen in Christ unto ever- 

* Assembly's Catechism, Chap. v. f Doctrinal Tracts, page 8. 

25 



290 GARBLED QUOTATIONS. 

lasting glory, out of his mere free grace and love, 
without the foresight of anything in them as a condi- 
tion, or cause, moving him thereto, these garblers 
make it teach, that the elect will be saved, do what 
they will : a doctrine which the Confession does not 
teach, and which those who adopt it abhor. 

Once more : The Confession of Faith says, Chap, 
iii. Sec. 7, " The rest of mankind, God was pleased 
according to the unsearchable counsel of his own will, 
whereby he extendeth or withholdeth mercy as he 
pleaseth, for the glory of his sovereign power over 
his creatures, to pass by and ordain them to dishon- 
our and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glori- 
ous justice." 

We will see now what garbling and mutilating has 
been done to this also. 

"The rest of mankind God was pleased for the 
glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to 
pass by, and ordain them to dishonour and wrath."* 

Thus leaving out "the unsearchable counsel of his 
own will " in the former part, and " for their sin," in 
the latter part of the section, and making the trans- 
action a mere arbitrary act of sovereign power, di- 
rectly contrary to the teaching of the document itself. 

That God does pass the finally impenitent by, and 
ordain them to dishonour and wrath for their sin, is 
not denied. As then he actually does it, Calvinists 
contend that it was not wrong for him to decree to do 
it at any time anterior to the event. But notwith- 
standing the General Conference tell us that "the 
eternal decree is expressed in these words, ' he that 
believeth not shall be damned ;'f that God, from the 
foundation of the world foreknew all men's believing 
or not believing, and according to this his foreknow- 
ledge, refused or reprobated all disobedient unbelievers 
as such to damnation ;J they so garble and mutilate 

* Doctrinal Tracts, page 8. f Ibid, page 15. 

J Ibid, page 139. 



GARBLED QUOTATIONS. 291 

the Confession of Faith as to make it teach that the 
non-elect will be sent to hell, though as holy as an- 
gels. 

We have now finished what we wished to say of the 
garbling and mutilating done to the Confession of 
Faith. The writer very seriously doubts whether 
the ingenuity of man could more entirely pervert the 
meaning of any document. This is doubtless the 
foundation of the objections and misrepresentations 
already adverted to. 

We will, in the next place, give a few samples of 
the garbling and misrepresentations done to other 
Calvinistic authorities. And here we acknowledge 
our indebtedness to the Rev. William Annan, D. D. 
In his "Difficulties of Arminian Methodism," he has 
pointed out some fifteen or more examples fully equal 
to what have already been presented. 

In the stereotype edition of the Methodist Doctri- 
nal Tracts there is " A Dialogue between a Predesti- 
narian and his Friend," which is graced with the fol- 
lowing line, " Out of thine own mouth will I judge 
thee." The truth of the motto we will find as we pass 
along. As the perversions of the Confession of Faith 
have been already noticed, in quoting them we will 
make no remarks. 

" Friend. Sir, I have heard that you make God 
the author of all sin, and the destroyer of the greater 
part of mankind without mercy. 

" Predestinarian. I deny it ; I only say God did 
from all eternity unchangeably ordain whatsoever 
comes to pass.* 

"Friend. Does sin necessarily come to pass ? 

"Predestinarian. Undoubtedly, for ' the almigh- 
ty power of God extends itself to the first fall, and 
to all other sins of angels and men.' "f 

The following sentiment is in the same Dialogue, 

* Assembly's Catechism, Chap. iii. f Ibid. Chap. v. 



292 GARBLED QUOTATIONS. 

ascribed to Dr. Twisse, the presiding officer of the 
Westminster Assembly, viz. 

, " All things come to pass by the efficacious and 
irresistible will of God." 

But this was one of the charges of Arminius against 
Calvinism, and not the language or sentiment of Dr. 
Twisse at all. It is true he professes his willingness 
to adopt it with certain explanations, the design of 
which may be learned from his definition of the divine 
decree, viz. "The purpose of God to do or permit 
anything." Was there ever a greater perversion of 
the sentiments of any author? 

Again: Zanchius is represented as teaching that, 
" God's first constitution was, that some should be 
destined to eternal ruin ; and to this end their sins 
were ordained, and a denial of grace in order to their 

• 5 5 4? 

sins. * 

But the works of Zanchius contain no such passage 
in the place referred to, nor (as is believed,) any 
where else. The accuracy of the extract, however, 
may be learned from the following, which are the ex- 
press words of the author, viz. "God, as he daily 
permits the good as well as the wicked to fall into sin, 
so also from eternity he decreed to permit all men to 
sin." 

We might thus go on and show how Calvinistic au- 
thors fare in these same hands. The reader who 
may have a desire to get a further insight into this 
matter, is referred to the Appendix to Dr. An- 
nan's book. What we have given is a sample of the 
whole. 

Having finished our notice of the garbling, mutila- 
ting and perverting of Calvinistic authorities, we will 
in the next place call the reader's attention to the pro- 
fession of candour and fairness under which these 
things are done. 

* Zanchius de Natura Dei, pp. 553, 554. 



GARBLED QUOTATIONS. 293 

The Dialogue from which we have quoted, begins 
thus, " To all predestinarians." 

" 1. I am informed some of jou have said, that the 
following quotations are false — that these words were 
not spoken by these authors ; — others, that they were 
not spoken in this sense; — and others, that neither 
you yourself, nor any true predestinarian, ever did, or 
ever would speak so. 

" 2. My friends, the authors here quoted are well 
known, in whom you may read the words with your 
own eyes. And you who have read them, know in 
your conscience, that they were spoken in this sense, 
and no other; nay, that this sense of them, is profess- 
edly defended throughout the whole treatises whence 
they are taken." The reader must make his own 
comments. He will doubtless conclude, however, that 
Mr. Watson was correct, when he said, "By many 
writers who have attacked the system (of Calvinism,) 
the truth has often been invaded, and the assault not 
unfrequently conducted on principles exceedingly anti- 
scriptural and fatally delusive." 

Having shown how Calvinistic authorities are quoted 
by Arminian writers, it may not be amiss to show the 
effect of giving a part only of the testimony in any 
given case. 

A, for example, tells his neighbours that he saw B 
go to the 3table of C, and take therefrom a horse, 
mount him, and set out for Texas. Instantly the im- 
pression is made, that B has stplen a horse. Whereas, 
if A had told the whole truth, viz. that B, before 
taking the horse, paid to C a hundred and fifty dollars 
for him, no such impression would have been made. 
Notwithstanding then, what he told was true, inas- 
much as it was not the whole truth, he told a lie. 

We will now show that the same result will follow, 
when a written document is so quoted as to convey an 
opposite meaning from that intended. 

The fourteenth Psalm begins thus, "The fool hath 
25* 



294 GARBLED QUOTATIONS. 

said in his heart, There is no God." Drop the intro- 
ductory clause and it will read thus — "There is no 
God." Take the whole together, and that is the say- 
ing of a fool. 

Again, in 2 Samuel xvii. 23, it is said, " And when 
Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he 
saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his 
house, to his city, and put his household in order and 
hanged himself;" and in Luke x. 37, it is said, "Go 
(thou) and do likewise." Here then, according to 
this way of quoting, every man has a command from 
the Bible to hang himself, but when the truth is all 
told, it is a command to go, like the good Samaritan, 
and help his neighbour in distress. 

How Mr. Wesley and the General Conference fare 
in view of these things, the writer will not say. By 
garbling, mutilating and perverting, they make for 
Calvinists doctrines which the latter reject, and then 
assail them in the following language, viz. " They 
must believe, that in the ages of eternity, God deter- 
mined to create men and angels for the express pur- 
pose of damning them eternally ! That he determin- 
ed to introduce sin, and influence men to commit it, 
and harden them in it, that they might be fit subjects 
of his wrath! That for doing as they were impelled 
to do, by the irresistible decree of Jehovah, they 
must lie down for ever, under the scalding phials of 
his vengeance in the pit of hell ! To state this doc- 
trine in its true character, is enough to chill one's 
blood — and we are drawn by all that is rational with- 
in us, to turn away from such a God with horror, as 
from the presence of an Almighty tyrant."* 

"This is the blasphemy clearly contained in the 
horrible decree of predestination. And here I fix my 
foot. On this I join issue with every asserter of it. 
You represent God as worse than the devil, more 

* Calvinistic Controversy — the Sermon. 



GARBLED QUOTATIONS. 295 

false, more cruel, more unjust. 'But you say you 
will prove it by Scripture.' Hold! What will you 
prove by Scripture? That God is worse than the 
devil ? It cannot be. Whatever that Scripture 
proves, it never can prove this. Whatever its true 
meaning be, this cannot be its true meaning. 

" This is the blasphemy for which I abhor the doc- 
trine of predestination: a doctrine, upon the supposi- 
tion of which, if one could possibly suppose it for a 
moment, he might say to our adversary the devil, 
6 Thou fool, why dost thou roar about any longer ? 
Thy lying in wait for souls is as needless and useless 
as our preaching. Hearest thou not, that God hath 
taken thy work out of thy hands ; and that he doth 
it much more effectually ? Thou, with all thy princi- 
palities and powers, canst only so assault that we 
may resist thee. But he can irresistibly destroy both 
body and soul in hell! Thou canst only entice; but 
his unchangeable decree to leave thousands of souls 
in death, compels them to continue in sin till they 
drop into everlasting burnings. Thou temptest ; he 
forceth us to be damned, for we cannot resist his will. 
Thou fool, why goest thou about any longer, seeking 
whom thou mayest devour? Hearest thou not that 
God is the devouring lion, the destroyer of souls, the 
murderer of men ? Moloch caused only children to 
pass through the fire, and that fire was soon quenched ; 
the corruptible body being consumed, its torment was 
at an end. But God, thou .art told, by his eternal 
decree, fixed before they had done good or evil, causes 
not only children of a span long, but the parents also, 
to pass through the fire of hell — the fire which never 
shall be quenched ; and the body which is cast there- 
into, being now incorruptible and immortal, will be 
ever consuming, and never consumed: but the smoke 
of their torment, because it is God's good pleasure, 
ascendeth up for ever and ever."* 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 171 — 173. 



296 GARBLED QUOTATIONS. 

If the reader has any desire to see what we have 
just given exceeded, he has only to turn to the " Ob- 
jections to Calvinism." pp. 54, 167, &c. 

But notwithstanding all this misrepresentation, 
slander and abuse, the General Conference finding 
that Calvinists did not preach in accordance with the 
doctrines set down to their account, took another 
step, and published a Tract under the title of " Du- 
plicity Exposed." In this, after some introductory 
remarks, they say, speaking of the " Congregational 
and Presbyterian Churches of this country," " It never 
comports with honesty, much less with religious inte- 
grity, to dissemble with the public, professing one 
thing while we industriously circulate another. How- 
ever unwilling we are to charge such duplicity on any 
body of people, yet we are constrained to say, the 
pretensions and practices of some men, are to us un- 
accountable." " We say, they (the Congregational 
and Presbyterian Churches,) believe the doctrine of 
eternal and unchangeable decrees, of unconditional 
election and reprobation, of the universal agency of 
God, by which he worketh all things in all men, even 
wickedness in the wicked" — " because he chooses on 
the whole, that they should go on in sin, and thereby 
give him a plausible pretext for damning them in the 
flames of hell for ever." We do not mean to blame 
any person for believing the above stated doctrine, if 
they cannot conscientiously disbelieve it; but we do 
and must blame them, when they dissemble their be- 
lief, by sometimes saying they do not believe what 
we know r they industriously teach."* 

"If the associated Congregational and Presby- 
terian Churches have made any material alteration 
in their doctrine and discipline, we think they owe it 
to the public to show what articles they have reject- 
ed, &c. In short, they ought to publish a revised 

* Objections to Calvinism, pp. 8, 9. 



GARBLED QUOTATIONS. 297 

edition of their Confession of Faith." "The object 
of this Tract is not to controvert, or disprove the 
horrid sentiments it discloses, but simply to demon- 
strate that such sentiments are held and propagated, 
while many who affect to disavow them, are endeavour- 
ing to suit them to the popular taste by exhibiting 
them in a disguised dress. We blame not people who 
honestly believe, but we blame those who disbelieve 
what they openly profess and teach."* 

It reminds us of a spiritual song that used to be 
sung at camp-meetings, one verse of which was as 
follows^ viz. 

"The Devil, Calvin, and Tom Paine, 

May vent their hellish rage in vain; 

Their doctrines shall be downward hiirl'd, 

The Methodists will take the world." 

As to " publishing a revised and corrected edition 
of the Confession of Faith," it may be well to observe, 
that Calvinists are satisfied with it as it is, and do 
not consider the revision we have noticed an improve- 
ment. 



CHAPTER XY 



FORGERIES. 



In the present chapter we propose to advance a step, 
and notice some of the quotations which Arminians 
have forged for Calvinists. Whether this, when taken 
in connection with their professions of candour and 
kindness, will appear somewhat like "duplicity ex- 
posed," the reader must judge. But we will not 
detain him with preliminaries. 

From a letter by the Rev. Augustus Toplady, to 

* Objections to Calvinism, pp. 9, 10. 



298 FOKGEMES. 

the Rev. John Wesley, dated January 9th, 1792, we 
make the following extracts, viz. 

"For the information of some, who are unac- 
quainted with the circumstances under which I write, 
I must premise, that in November, 1760, I published 
a two-shilling pamphlet, entitled 'The doctrine of 
absolute predestination, stated and asserted: with a 
preliminary discourse on the divine attributes, trans- 
lated in a great measure from the Latin of Jerome 
Zanchius.' In the month of March, 1779, out 
sneaks a printed paper, (consisting of one sheet, 
folded in twelve pages; price one penny,) entitled 
'The doctrine of absolute predestination, stated and 
asserted by the Rev. A. T ,' wherein you pre- 
tend to give an abridgment of the pamphlet referred 
to. But, 

"1. Why did you not make your abridgment truly 
public ? 

"2. Why did you not abridge me faithfully and 
fairly ? especially as you took the liberty of prefixing 
my name to it. You draw up a flimsy, partial com- 
pendium of Zanchius, which exhibits a few detached 
propositions placed in the most disadvantageous point 
of view, without including any part of the evidence 
on which they stand." "But this alone was not suf- 
ficient to encompass the desired end. ... A 
false colouring must likewise be superinduced, by 
inserting a sentence now and then of your own foist- 
ing in ; after which you close the motley piece with 
an entire paragraph, forged every word of it by your- 
self, and conclude all as you began, by subjoining the 
initials of my name, to make the ignorant believe 
that the whole, with your omissions, additions and 
alterations, actually came from me. An instance of 
audacity and falsehood hardly to be paralleled !" 

"I am very far from desiring the reader to take 
my word in proof of the charge alleged against you. 
As an instance of your want of honour, veracity and 



FORGERIES. 299 

justice, I refer to the following paragraph, 1st, as 
published by me ; 2, as quoted by you. 

"1. When all the transactions of providence and 
grace are wound up in the last day, he (Christ) will 
then properly sit as judge, and openly publish and 
solemnly ratify, if I may so say, his everlasting 
decrees, by receiving the elect, body and soul, into 
glory; and by passing sentence on the non-elect, (not 
for having done what they could not help, but) for 
their wilful ignorance of divine things; and their 
obstinate unbelief; for their omissions of moral 
duty, and for their repeated iniquities and transgres- 
sions."* 

"2. In the last day Christ will sit as a judge, and 
openly publish, and solemnly ratify his everlasting 
decrees, by receiving the elect into glory, and by 
passing sentence on the non-elect (not for having 
done what they could not help, but) for their wilful 
ignorance of divine things, and their obstinate 
unbelief, for their omissions of moral duty, and their 
repeated iniquities and transgressions, which they 
could not help.' n \ 

The reader will notice that the words " which they 
could not help," are forged by Mr. Wesley, and put 
into Mr. Toplady's mouth, thus making him teach, 
directly the opposite of what he does teach. But 
Mr. Toplady continues, 

"Whether my views of the doctrine itself be in 
fact right or wrong, is no part of the present inquiry. 
The question is, have you quoted me fairly ? Blush, 
Mr. Wesley, if you are capable of blushing. For 
once, publicly acknowledge yourself to have acted 
criminally, * unless,' to use your own words on another 
occasion, ' Shame and you have shaken hands and 
parted.' 

* Doctrine of Absolute Predestination, page 93. 
f Wesley's Abridgment, page 9. 



300 FORGERIES. 

"Your concluding paragraph, which you have the 
effrontery to palm on the world, runs thus, viz. 

"'The sum of all is this: One in twenty (suppose) 
of mankind are elected; nineteen in twenty are 
reprobated. The elect shall be saved, do what they 
will, the reprobate shall be damned, do what they can. 
Reader, believe this or be damned. Witness my 
hand, A. T .'"* 

This last, the reader will discover is a forgery 
throughout; hence Mr. Toplady says of it, "In 
almost any other case a similar forgery would trans- 
mit the criminal to Virginia or Maryland, if not to 
Tyburn. If such an opponent can be deemed an 
honest man, where shall we find a knave? What 
would you think of me, were I infamous enough to 
abridge any treatise of yours, sprinkle it with inter- 
polations, and conclude it thus: Reader, buy this 
book or be damned. Witness my hand, John Wes- 

ley!" 

Such a crime in Geneva, in the days of Calvin, 
would have expelled the author of it from that city, 
and would now expel him from the Presbyterian 
Church. 

In the advertisement to the second edition of the 
letter from which these extracts have been taken, 
Mr. Toplady says : "Nine months are now elapsed 
since the first publication of this letter, in all of 
which time Mr. Wesley has neither apologized for 
the misdemeanour which occasioned his hearing from 
me in this public manner, nor attempted to answer 
the charge entered against him." 

Some time after (how long, the writer has not 
ascertained) Mr. Wesley came out with a reply, 
which begins thus: 

" The Consequences Proved : 1st. Mr. Toplady, a 
young, bold man, lately published a pamphlet, an 

* Wesley's Abridgment, page 12. 



FORGERIES. 301 

extract from which was soon after printed, conclud- 
ing with these words : 

" ' The sum of all is this : One in twenty, sup- 
pose, of mankind is elected ; nineteen in twenty are 
reprobated. The elect shall be saved, do what they 
will: the reprobate shall be damned, do what they 
can.' 

" 2. A great outcry has been raised on that 
account, as though this was not a fair state of the 
case; and it has been vehemently affirmed, that no 
such consequences follow from the doctrine of abso- 
lute predestination. 

" I calmly affirm it is a fair state of the case ; this 
consequence does naturally and necessarily follow 
from the doctrine of absolute predestination, as here 
stated and defended by bold Mr. Augustus Toplady." 

In reference to the historical truth of all we have 
here given, it may be proper to remark, 

1. That it is fully confirmed by Southey.* 

2. That the reply of Mr. Wesley here referred to, 
viz. " The Consequences Proved," is to be found in 
his works, and has been transferred by the General 
Conference to their stereotype volume of Doctrinal 
Tracts, while the abridgment of which Mr. Toplady 
complains, is not found in either. 

3 That Mr. Wesley and the General Conference 
admit the publication complained of, but instead of 
acknowledging or retracting the forgery, make the 
admission in such a way as .to call it "an extract" 
from the pamphlet of Mr. Toplady. "Mr. Toplady, 
a young, bold man, lately published a pamphlet, an 
extract from which was soon after published, conclud- 
ing with these words: — ' The sum of all is this,' " &c. 
that is, the "extract" from Mr. Toplady so concludes, 
and " calmly affirms it is a fair state of the case." 
The sum then of all is this; Mr. Wesley committed a 

* See Life of Wesley, Vol. II. pp. 169, 170. 
26 



302 FORGERIES. 

forgery, and he and the General Conference told a 
falsehood about it, and have made the forgery and 
falsehood a standard publication ever since. How 
they will all fare by the rule the former has laid 
down as essential to piety, is not for us to say. That 
rule is as follows, viz. "A man cannot have any 
religion who does to others what he would not they 
should do to him, if he were in the same circum- 
stances."* 

In addition to the above, Mr. Whitehead relates 
an act of Mr. Wesley, in reference to Mr. Toplady, 
not less discreditable to the former, than what we 
have noticed. "After Mr. Toplady's death," says 
Mr. Whitehead, "a woman came to Mr. Wesley, 
and related several things, as from her own personal 
knowledge, injurious to his character. She said 
some unpleasant things concering the manner of his 
death, which, as appears since, on good authority, 
were false. Mr Wesley very imprudently related in 
private conversation some things she had told him, 
supposing them to be true. What he said was soon 
reported to Mr. Toplady's friends, who publicly 
called on Mr. Wesley for proof of his assertions. 
Mr. Wesley made no reply, and the Calvinists 
immediately charged him with inventing the story, 
as well as propagating it."f 

If then Mr. Wesley " made no reply" — took no 
notice of the call, did not give his authority for 
the injurious statement, but sanctioned it with the 
authority of his name, he was willing it should con- 
tinue to be spread as having come from him. It 
therefore became his adopted child. Now, if any one 
will show that this was less criminal than to have 
originated the slander, he will deserve a premium. 
But let us hear Mr. Wesley himself: — "Hear evil of 

* Sermon on The Way to the Kingdom, 
f Life of Wesley, page 304. 



FORGERIES. 303 

no man. If there were no hearers, there would be 
no speakers of evil. And is not the receiver as bad 
as the thief?"* 

Having noticed two forgeries, we will take up 
another. 

In No. 32, page 96, of the Methodist Sunday- 
school and Youth's Library, the General Conference 
state the doctrine of predestination as follows, viz. 

" That God has by an eternal and unchangeable 
decree predestinated to eternal damnation by far the 
greater part of mankind, and that absolutely, without 
any respect to their works, but only for the showing 
of the glory of his justice. And that for the bring- 
ing this about, he hath appointed these miserable 
souls necessarily to walk in their wicked ways, that 
so # his justice may lay hold of them." 

The Rev. Dr. Annan has well remarked, that 
" the minister who should dare broach such a senti- 
ment in the Presbyterian Church would be brought 
to trial for heresy and impiety." The passage is 
put in quotation marks, and to fasten the impression 
upon the minds of the young and unsuspecting, they 
are presented with the usual array of garbled, mu- 
tilated, and perverted quotations from Calvin and 
others. And lest the direction of the whole should be 
misunderstood, the Confession of Faith, Chapter III. 
Section 5, comes in for a full share. " Chosen in 
Christ unto everlasting glory, without any foresight 
of faith and good works," omitting what immedi- 
ately follows, viz. "As conditions or causes moving 
hereto." 

We will next present the reader, without much 
comment, with a few samples of such forgeries as 
abound in the Doctrinal Tracts. And here we may 
remark, that it is not uncommon to give as the lan- 
guage of another, such language as he does not use. 

* Sermon on The Cure of Evil Speaking. 



304 FORGERIES. 

In that case, however, if honesty is intended, care is 
taken not to misstate his sentiments, nor to conceal 
the fact, that he is not the author of the language as- 
cribed to him. The reverse of this is true of the for- 
geries we are about to present. 

On page 46, the Calvinist is represented as saying, 
"He is afraid, if he does not hold election, he must 
hold free will, and so rob God of his glory in man's 
salvation." The above sentence is placed between 
quotation marks, so that the reader is left to infer, 
(without there being anything in the connection to 
show to the contrary) that it is a quotation from some 
Calvinistic author, and that Calvinists deny the free 
agency of man. Yet strange to tell, Chap. IX. of 
the Confession of Faith is immediately and (what is 
very remarkable) correctly quoted, to show that they 
maintain his free agency. "God hath endowed the 
will of man with that natural liberty that it is neither 
forced, nor by an absolute necessity of nature deter- 
mined to good or evil." Nor is it less remarkable, 
that Calvin should be correctly referred to also, as 
teaching the same doctrine.* 

Again, on page 47, a quotation is in like manner 
forged, which represents the Calvinist as saying, "If 
man has any free will, God cannot have the whole 
glory of his salvation." 

So also in reply to the following interrogatories on 
page 54, such answers are forged, as no Calvinist ever 
made, viz. 

"Why does this man sin? 'He cannot cease from 
sin.' Why cannot he cease from sin? 'Because he 
has no saving grace? Because God of his own good 
pleasure, hath eternally decreed not to give it him.' 
Is he then under an unavoidable necessity of sinning? 
1 Yes, as much as a stone is of falling. He never had 
any more power to cease from evil than a stone has to 

* See Doctrinal Tracts, p. 154. 



FORGERIES. 305 

hang in the air.' And shall this man, for not doing 
what he never could do, and for doing what he never 
could avoid, be sentenced to depart into everlasting 
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels? 'Yes, 
because it is the sovereign will of God.' ' 

Now, the writer takes it upon him to say, these an- 
swers, and the doctrine contained in them, are Armin- 
ian forgeries throughout. Again, we have the follow- 
ing, pp. 95, 96, viz. " Some are not afraid to assert, 
that 'God by an eternal and unchangeable decree, 
hath predestinated to eternal damnation the far greater 
part of mankind, and that absolutely, without any 
respect to their works, but only for the showing the 
glory of his justice; and that for the bringing this 
about, he hath appointed these miserable souls neces- 
sarily to walk in their wicked ways, that so his justice 
may lay hold on them. And that he justly condemns 
these although he hath withheld from them that grace 
by which alone they could have laid hold of salvation, 
as having decreed (without any respect to their works) 
that they shall not obey; and that the gospel which 
he publicly invites them to accept, shall never prove 
effectual for their salvation, but only serve to aggra- 
vate their guilt and occasion their greater dam- 
nation.' " 

" Some are not afraid to assert," &c. Now, although 
the above is stated and marked as a quotation, and 
there is nothing in the connection that would lead to 
any other inference, it is a forgery from beginning to 
end. The same may be said of the following, on page 
156, viz. "But is it (the grace or love of God, whence 
cometh our salvation,) free for all, as well as in all ? 
To this, some have answered, ' NO : it is free only for 
those whom God hath ordained to life; and they are 
but a little flock. The greater part of mankind God 
hath ordained unto death; and it is not free for them. 
Them God hateth; and therefore before they were 
born, decreed they should die eternally. And this he 
26* 



306 FORGERIES. 

absolutely decreed, because so was his good pleasure ; 
because it was his sovereign will. Accordingly, they 
were born to this, to be destroyed body and soul in 
hell. And they grow under the irrevocable curse of 
God, without any possibility of redemption. For what 
grace God gives, he gives only for this, to increase, 
not to prevent their damnation.' " 

We have now presented the reader with a few 
samples o£ the forgeries that are to be found in the 
Methodist Doctrinal Tracts. He has seen something 
of the spirit of detraction that exists in that Church, 
and how it was carried on in England, and in this 
country ; it may not be amiss therefore, to inform him 
with whom, and when, it originated. 

Dr. Coke was the first who was ordained a Bishop 
for the American Colonies. Writing to Mr. Wesley 
from Ireland, some time after that event, he says he 
"would as soon commit adultery as preach publicly 
against the church." " But" says Mr. Whitehead, " I 
must say this of the doctor, that with respect to adul- 
tery, I think him very innocent; but in bringing 
railing accusations against others, I think him very 
guilty; and it is very probable that the Methodist 
Episcopal Church now forming in England will have 
the same foundation as it had in America. The foun- 
ders of it begin with judging and condemning others 
who dissent from them, and exalting themselves ; some 
very glaring instances of which have already appeared. 
Heave others to judge of the probable consequences."* 

From this we learn that the " founders" of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, 
"began with judging, and condemning others who 
dissented from them" in a "very glaring" manner, 
"and (in) exalting themselves." 

We will close this chapter with what will doubtless 
appear to the reader as it does to us, a little ahead of 

* Life of Wesley, page 261. 



FORGERIES. 307 

any of the inconsistencies we have had under review. 
In 1843 the Rev. G. W. Musgrave published a pam- 
phlet entitled "Polity of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church in the United States," &c, in which occurs 
the following sentence, viz. "For many years, and 
without the slightest provocation, the General Tract 
Society of the Methodist Episcopal church, under the 
care and control of the General Conference have been 
issuing hostile and offensive publications against the 
Presbyterian Church." 

In a " Reply" to that pamphlet, by the Rev. 
David Meredith Reese, A. M., M. D., a local preacher 
of that Church, we have the following on page 7, viz. 

"No, Rev. Sir, you will forgive my abrupt contra- 
diction of your Reverence thus* early, when I assure 
you that no Tract has ever been issued by any 
authority in the Methodist Episcopal Church, against 
the Presbyterian Church or against any other evan- 
gelical denomination."* 

Let us see. The Calvinistic Controversy is " pub- 
lished by Waugh and Mason, for the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church." In it Dr. Fisk says, pp. 8, 9, "With 
these definitions (of predestination) agree all the Cal- 
vinistic divines in Europe and America. To this view 
of predestination we have objected." "It is the ob- 
ject of the sermon and of the following controversy, to 
show that Calvinistic predestination is, on any ground 
of consistency, utterly irreconcilable with mental free- 
dom." 

If then, Dr. Fisk writes against a doctrine held by 
"all the Calvinistic divines of Europe and America," 
he must write "against the Presbyterian Church." 

Again: The Methodist Doctrinal Tracts are "pub- 
lished by order of the General Conference" "for the 
Methodist Episcopal church." Tract VIII. begins 

*Dr. Reese resides in the city of Baltimore. 



308 PERSEVERANCE 

with an address "to all predestinarians," and Tract 
Y. "joins issue with every asserter of" that doctrine. 
"Duplicity Exposed" is issued by the same author- 
ity, for the same Church. In it the " Associated Con- 
gregational and Presbyterian Churches" are expressly 
named,, as obnoxious to the charges it prefers — and it 
is the declared "object of this tract not to controvert 
or disprove the horrid sentiments it (the Confession 
of Faith) discloses, but simply to demonstrate that 
such sentiments are held and propagated, while many 
who affect to disavow them, are endeavouring to suit 
them to the popular taste, by exhibiting them in a 
disguising dress." "To show that the Associated 
Congregational and Presbyterian Churches do believe 
and teach the same doctrine," &c, pp. 8, 9. The 
"assurance" then "that no tract has ever been issued 
by any authority in the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
against the Presbyterian Church, or against any other 
evangelical denomination," is something that "out- 
herods Herod." This, with the false charges, mis- 
representations, garblings, mutilatings, and forgeries, 
we have noticed, may be set down among the "pious 
frauds" of the nineteenth century. 



CHAPTER XVI 



THE FINAL PERSEVERANCE OP THE SAINTS. 

The Rev. R. S. Foster, speaking of Calvinists, 
says, " The final perseverance of the saints, with 
them, is a frankly avowed and cherished sentiment. 
To rob them of this, would be to rob them of one of 
their gods."* 

After this, he goes on to say, "The doctrine is 

* Objections to Calvinism, page 178. 



OF THE SAINTS. 309 

■without warrant from the word of God No 

passage clearly teaches it; none necessarily infers it; 
no principle of revelation sanctions it. If it could 
be true, its truth never can be derived from the 
Bible," &c* 

" Its logical consequences are antagonistic to the 
reason and nature of man, to the genius of religion, 
and to the consciousness of our species. "f 

Having concluded what we wished to say of forged 
quotations, &c, we proceed to show that this is a 
doctrine taught by standard writers in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

" The order of the great work of salvation," says 
Dr. Adam Clarke, is — 1. Conviction of sin. 2. Con- 
version from sin. 3. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
&c. 4. Justification or pardon, &c. 5. Sanctifica- 
tion, &c. 6. Perseverance in the state of sanctifica- 
tion, &c. 7. Glorification. "J 

This, the reader will observe, is laid down as the 
" order of the great work of salvation," and that one 
link in the chain, is "perseverance in the state of 
sanctification ;" in other words, " the perseverance of 
the saints." Clarke's Theology, it is to be recol- 
lected, is a selection made from the writings of that 
divine by the General Conference; so that "perse- 
verance in the state of sanctification" is thus en- 
dorsed by that body, as one of the doctrines of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. " With regard to final 
perseverance," says Wesley n "I am inclined to be- 
lieve, there is a state attainable in this life, from 
which a man cannot finally fall ; and that he has 
attained this who can say, 'old things are passed 
away; all things are become new."'§ 

"I am inclined to believe." Here Mr. Wesley 
expresses some doubt; in another place, however, he 

* Objections to Calvinism, p. 179. f Ibid. p. 199. 

% Clarke's Theology, page 148. \ Works, Vol. III. p. 289. 



310 PERSEVERANCE 

is very decided. Thus, after commenting on Rom. 
viii. 29, 30, " For whom he did foreknow, he also did 
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his 
Son. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he 
also called, and whom he called, them he also justi- 
fied, and whom he justified, them he also glorified." 
He asks, "What is it then we learn from this whole 
account ? It is this, and nothing more. 1. God 
knows all believers. 2. Wills that they should be 
saved from sin. 3. To that end justifies them. 
4. Sanctifies: and 5. Takes them to glory."* 

If then, God wills the salvation of all believers, 
justifies, sanctifies, and takes them to glory, what is 
this but the perseverance and final salvation of all 
the saints ? What is still more remarkable, is that 
the inference here stated is drawn from one of the 
strongest passages of Scripture that Calvinists adduce 
to prove that doctrine. 

Again, in his sermon on "Justification by Faith," 
he says, " To him that is justified or forgiven, God 
will not impute sin to his condemnation. He will 
not condemn him on that account, either in this 

world or in that which is to come And 

from the time we are accepted through the beloved, 
reconciled to God through his blood, he loves, and 
blesses, and watches over us for good, even as if we 
had never sinned." 

If then, "to him that is forgiven, God will not 
impute sin to his condemnation," "either in this 
world or in that which is to come," well may the 
pardoned sinner break out in the following lines of 
one of the Methodist Hymns, viz. 

"For Jesus my Lord is now my defence; 
I trust in his word, none plucks me from thence ; . . . 
For sorrow and sadness I joy shall receive, 
And share in the gladness of all that believe."f 

* Sermon on Predestination. f Hymn 287. 



OF THE SAINTS. 311 

On that doctrine, Mr. Watson is clear in his ser- 
mon on Prov. iv. 18. " The path of the just is as 
the shining light, that shineth more and more unto 
the perfect day." 

" The just man here mentioned," he says, "is not 
the man who begins merely, but who likewise perse- 
veres. Not he who only enters the gate, but who 
continues in the path. Nothing can be more affect- 
ing than to see so solemn a matter as religion taken up 
on light grounds and as lightly abandoned; as though 
it were a question of no moment whether we served 
God or served him not. Nor does anything incur 
greater guilt, or expose to greater danger. ' Better 
had it been for them not to have known the way of 
righteousness, than after they have known it, to turn 
from the holy commandment delivered unto them.' 
Seven devils entered where only one had been before, 
and the last state was worse than the first. But here 
you have the man of steadfastness and perseverance. 
His path is no meteor which gleams and expires. No 
rising day lowering into mist and darkness. It is the 
path of the cloudless light of heaven. It shineth yet 
more and more. Such is his continual progress in 
holiness and happiness." 

Mr. Watson here plainly distinguished between the 
professed Christian who "takes up religion as a 
solemn matter," and the other, who " takes it up on 
light grounds." In other words — between the one 
who builds " on a rock," Matt. vii. 24, and the other 
who builds " on the sand." Matt. vii. 26. The one 
" who receiveth good seed into good ground, and 
bringeth forth fruit, some an hundred fold, some sixty, 
some thirty," Matt. xiii. 23; and the other who "hav- 
ing no root in himself, endureth but for a while." 
Matt. xiii. 21. The one, he correctly says, "is a man 
of steadfastness and perseverance," the other, a " me- 
teor which gleams and expires." The one "is the 
path of the cloudless light of heaven, that shineth yet 



312 PERSEVERANCE 

more and more," the other soon " lowers into mist 
and darkness." No Calvinist could state the doc- 
trine of the saints' perseverance more distinctly and 
decidedly. 

In the Doctrinal Tracts, page 163, the General 
Conference says, " That assurance of faith which these 
enjoy, (who have the witness of the Spirit,) excludes 
all doubt and fear. It excludes all kind of doubt and 
fear concerning their future perseverance; though it 
is not properly an assurance of what is future, but 
only of what now is." " It excludes all kind of doubt 
and fear concerning their final perseverance!" How 
remarkably this accords with the Scriptures: "I will 
make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will 
not turn away from them to do them good, but I will 
put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart 
from me." Jer. xxxii. 24. 

Accordingly, Paul, addressing believers, says, " Ye 
are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 
When (therefore) Christ, who is our life, shall appear, 
then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Col. iii. 
33. "Because I live, ye shall live also." John xiv. 
19. " For I am persuaded that neither death, nor 
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor 
things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor 
depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to sepa- 
rate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus 
our Lord." Rom. viii. 38, 39. It is not at all won- 
derful, therefore, that " the assurance of faith which 
they enjoy (who have the witness of the Spirit, bearing 
witness with their spirit that they are the children of 
God,) should exclude all kind of doubt and fear con- 
cerning their future perseverance." 

Again, the General Conference says, " There is 
great reason to hope, that Esau (as well as Jacob) is 
now in Abraham's bosom. For although for a time, 
'he hated Jacob,' and afterwards came against him 
'with four hundred men,' very probably designing to 
take revenge for the injuries he had sustained ; we 



OF THE SAINTS. 313 

find that when they met, 'Esau ran and fell on his 
neck, and kissed him;' so thoroughly had God changed 
his heart! And why should we doubt but that happy 
change continued?"* 

Although a man's heart towards his fellow-man 
may be changed from enmity to love, without being 
so changed towards God, and although there is no- 
thing in the connection, nor in the subsequent history 
of Esau, which would lead us to suppose that the 
change in him extended any farther than his brother; 
yet, certainly, if that change did take place which the 
General Conference suppose, then as " the assurance 
of faith which they enjoy, who have the witness of the 
Spirit bearing witness with their spirits that they are 
the children of God, excludes all kind of doubt and 
fear concerning their future perseverance," it may 
well be asked, " why should we doubt but that happy 
change continued?" 

We will next call attention to a few quotations from 
the Methodist H.ymn-Book. Our edition is the one 
in use before the division of the Church. In Hymn 
17, verse 4, we have the following, viz. 

" Our life with thee we hide, 
Above the furious blast: 
And shelter' d in thy wounds abide, 
Till all the storms be past." 

The reader will discover that there is allusion here 
to the passage in Colossians, already quoted, viz. 
"Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in 
God," &c. Accordingly, as "the assurance of faith, 
which they enjoy who have the witness of the Spirit, 
excludes all kind of doubt and fear concerning their 
future perseverance," they here express entire con- 
fidence that they will "abide" faithful, or in other 
words, will persevere, 

" Till all the storms be past." 

* Doctrinal Tracts, page 59. 

27 



314 PERSEVERANCE 

In several other hymns, the same sentiment is ex- 
pressed, with even greater clearness. Thus, speaking 
of the believer's union with Christ, in Hymn 260, he 
is represented as saying, 

" No mortal cloth know, what he can bestow, 
What light, strength, and comfort; go after him, go; 
Lo, onward I move, to a city above, 
None guesses how wondrous my journey will prove. 

Great spoils I shall win, from death, hell and sin, 
Midst outward afflictions, shall feel Christ within ; 
And when I'm to die, receive me, I'll cry, 
For Jesus hath loved me, I cannot tell why. 

But this I do find, we two are so joined, 
He'll not live in glory, and leave me behind, 
So, this is the race, I'm running through grace, 
Henceforth till admitted to see my Lord's face." 

In these verses, the Christian does not indulge a 
doubt of a successful journey, of securing great spoils, 
and of being so united to Christ, that he will dwell 
with him for ever. There is not a hint about, "If I 
persevere." 

Again, our Saviour says to his disciples, " Because 
I live, ye shall live also." And the Apostle Paul 
says, Rom. v. 10, "if when we were enemies, we were 
reconciled to God, by the death of his Son, much more 
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Here 
the safety of God's people is asserted in language 
strong and explicit. In accordance with it we have 
the following lines in an address to the Saviour, in the 
Methodist Hymn-Book: 

1 'We clap our hands exulting, 
In thine Almighty, favour; 
The love divine that made us thine, 
Can keep us thine for ever. 

Thou dost conduct thy people, 

Through torrents of temptation ; 
Nor will we fear, when thou art near, 

The fire of tribulation. 



OF THE SAINTS. 315 

The world with sin and Satan, 

In yain onr march opposes; 
By thee we shall break through them all, 

And sing the song of Moses."* 

So also in the Doctrinal Tracts, as already quoted, 
viz. "That assurance of faith which those enjoy 
(who have the witness of the Spirit,) excludes all 
kind of doubt and fear concerning their future perse- 
verance." 

With this we close our argument on this part of 
our subject, having shown that the final perseverance 
of the saints is a doctrine of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

We will show next, that it is a doctrine which that 
Church rejects. 

The General Conference, although they very 
decidedly reject the doctrine, do not appear to see 
matters in so clear a light as Mr. Foster. Accord- 
ingly they say, they are " sensible (that) either side 
of this question is attended with great difficulties; 
such as reason alone could never remove. "f 

While then, Mr. Foster says the "logical conse- 
quences" (of this doctrine) "are antagonistic to the 
reason and nature of man," &c, the General Confer- 
ence say "either side of this question is attended with 
difficulties such as reason alone could never remove," 
and "therefore" they appeal "to the law and to the 
testimony," and say "on this authority they believe 
a saint who is holy or righteous in the judgment of 
God himself, may nevertheless so fall from God, as to 
perish everlastingly. 1. 'For thus saith the Lord, 
When the righteous turneth away from his right- 
eousness, and committeth iniquity; in his trespass 
that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath 
sinned, in them shall he die.' " Ezek. xviii. 24. They 
then go on to prove, 1st, that the death here threatened 

* Hymn 275. f Doctrinal Tracts, page 211. 



316 PERSEVERANCE 

is eternal death, and, 2. That a saint may fall and 
perish.* 

But if this he true, it is doubtful whether a single 
individual of the human family has entered heaven 
except those who die in infancy. For while the argu- 
ment is intended to prove a fall from grace, it admits 
of no recovery. "In his trespass that he hath tres- 
passed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, shall he 
die." Noah was a righteous man, Gen. vii. 1; but 
Noah got drunk, Gen. ix. 21, therefore Noah is in 
hell. Abraham was a righteous man, but Abraham 
told a falsehood, and denied that Sarah was his wife, 
Gen. xii. 19, therefore Abraham -is in hell. Moses 
was a righteous man, but in a fit of passion he dashed 
in pieces the tables of the Lord, and did not "sanctify 
the Lord in the presence of the people, at the waters 
of Meribah Kadesh," therefore Moses is in hell. 
Job was a righteous man, yet he murmured against 
the dealings of Providence, therefore Job is in hell. 
The Apostle Peter was a righteous man, but he denied 
his Lord with oaths and curses, therefore he is in 
hell, &c, &c. So that, according to the General Con- 
ference, no pious man that sins, can find any place 
for repentance. "In his trespasses that he hath 
trespassed, and in his sins that he hath sinned shall 
he die." If this interpretation were carried out in 
practice, revivals of religion in the Methodist Church 
would often be but flimsy affairs; for they often con- 
sist in working over old materials, the third or fourth 
time. 

These divines have evidently fallen into an error, 
first, in supposing that by a "righteous" man, we are 
necessarily to understand a pious man. That such is 
its meaning frequently, is admitted; but that it has 
that meaning always, is denied. Thus in reference 
to the duties of civil officers, it is said, Deut. xxv. 1, 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 211—214. 



OF THE SAINTS. 31T 

" If there be a controversy between men, and they 
come unto judgment, that the judges may judge 
between them, then they shall justify the righteous 
and condemn the wicked." Here evidently, nothing 
more is meant by a righteous man, than one who 
comes before the judges with a righteous cause. So 
also in 1 Kings viii. 31, 32, "If any man trespass 
against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him 
to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine 
altar in this house ; then hear thou in heaven, and do 
and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked to 
bring his way upon his head, and justifying the right- 
eous, to give him according to his righteousness." 

Again, when Solomon gave sentence to put Joab 
to death, he said "The Lord shall return his blood 
upon his own head, who fell upon two men more 
righteous and better than he, and slew them with the 
sword."* 

Again, when in accordance with the orders of 
Jehu, the seventy sons of Ahab were slain, and their 
heads laid at the gate of Jezreel, Jehu went out 
and said to the people, "Ye be righteous. "f 

Here then, are four cases in which the word 
"righteous" is applied to individuals, without piety 
being supposed in any of them. 

The second error into which Mr. Wesley and the 
General Conference have fallen, is, in taking it for 
granted that the death threatened in the passage they 
adduce, refers not to temporal, but to eternal death. 

In reference to civil officers, it is said, Deut. xvi. 
19, "Thou shalt not wrest judgment ; thou shalt not 
respect persons." And in Deut. xxiv. 16, it is said, 
" The fathers shall not be put to death for the chil- 
dren ; neither shall the children be put to death for 
the fathers : every man shall be put to death for hi s 
own sin." Accordingly, when king Amaziah "slew 

* 1 Kings ii. 32. f 2 Kings x. 9. 

27* 



318 PERSEVERANCE 

his servants which had slain the king his father ; but 
the children of the murderers he slew not : according to 
that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, 
wherein the Lord commanded, saying, The fathers 
shall not be put to death for the children, nor the 
children be put to death for the fathers; but every 
man shall be put to death for his own sin." 2 Kings, 
xiv. 5, 6. 

We are now prepared to come at the meaning of 
the passage before us, as the whole connection shows. 

The Jews, like other nations punished some sins 
with death, and their civil officers were required to 
inflict that penalty on the offender, irrespective of 
his standing in society. Accordingly we have the 
instructions to that effect given in Deuteronomy, re- 
peated in Ezekiel : " The soul that sinneth, it shall 
die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, 
neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. 
The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, 
and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." 
" When, the righteous turneth from his righteous- 
ness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to 
all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall 
he live ? All his righteousness that he hath done, 
shall not be mentioned;" (as a bar between him and 
justice,) " in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and 
in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die." 
Ezek. xviii. 20, 24. 

But notwithstanding the meaning of the passage is 
thus obvious, Arminians, to prove that a saint may 
fall from grace, have been at great pains so to per- 
vert it, as to make a righteous or just man, necessa- 
rily mean a pious man, and the death of the body, 
mean the eternal death of the soul. 

The General Conference continues : " Secondly, 
one who is endued with faith that purifies the heart, 
that produces a good conscience, may nevertheless so 
fall from God as to perish everlastingly. For thus 



OF THE SAINTS. 319 

saith the inspired Apostle, "War a good warfare, 
holding faith and a good conscience, which some hav- 
ing put away, concerning faith have made shipwreck." 
1 Tim. i. 18, 19. 

" Observe 1. These men (such as Hymeneus and 
Alexander,) had once the faith that purifies the heart, 
that produces a good conscience, which they once had, 
or they could not have put it away. 

" Observe 2. They made shipwreck of the faith, 
which necessarily implies the total and final loss of it; 
for a vessel once wrecked can never be recovered. It 
is totally lost. And the Apostle himself mentions one 
of these two as irrecoverably lost. \ Alexander did 
me much evil, the Lord reward him according to his 
works.' 2 Tim. iv. 14. Therefore, one who is endued 
with faith that purifies the heart, that produces a 
good conscience, may nevertheless so fall from God, 
as to perish everlastingly."* 

To this we reply, 1. If it be true, then what is 
stated in Hymn 607 of the Methodist Hymn-Book, is 
not true, viz. 

"Thy saints in all this glorious war, 
Shall conquer though they die." 

Nor that which is stated in Hymn 11th, viz. 

" The Lord shall in your front appear, 
And lead the pompous triumph on, 
His glory shall bring up the rear, 
And perfect what his grace begun." 

2. It is not said that the faith here referred to 
"purifies the heart." 

3. That a man may have a good conscience without 
being converted, is evident from what Paul says of 
himself before his conversion, viz. " I have lived in 
all good conscience before God until this day." Acts 
xxiii. 1, compared with 1 Tim. i. 13, Acts xxvi. 9. 

* Doctrinal Tracts, page 215. 



320 PERSEVERANCE 

4. That the faith of which " shipwreck" was made, 
refers to the doctrine of the gospel, and not to the 
faith which follows a vital union with Christ, is evi- 
dent from 2 Tim. ii. 18: "Hymeneus and Philetus 
concerning the truth have erred, in saying the resur- 
rection is passed already, and have overthrown the 
faith of some." See also 2 Peter ii. 22. 

5. There is no evidence whatever, that " Alexander 
who did Paul much evil," is the Alexander who 
"made shipwreck of the faith." 

6. The apostle, after mentioning some apostates 
from the faith, viz. Hymeneus and Philetus, expressly 
distinguishes them from true saints in the next verse 
— -"nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, 
having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are 
his." 2 Tim. ii. 19. "Having this seal." "One 
object of a seal, is to distinguish property, and so the 
Lord distinguishes them that are his. Another ob- 
ject of it is, to confirm. Thus a king sets his seal to 
his decrees — a man sets his seal to a bond, &c, and 
thus God makes his foundation sure. A third object 
of a seal is to preserve inviolate. Thus we seal a 
letter, and thus the sepulchre in which our Saviour 
was buried was sealed; so that in whatsoever sense we 
understand the word, it evidently here denotes God's 
special care of his people. 

"4. It is set on them to save them from destruc- 
tion. Thus it was said to the destroying angel, Rev. 
vii. 3, 'Hurt not the earth, &c, till we have sealed 
the servants of God on their foreheads.' 

" 5. It is a pledge of future deliverance : Thus, 
2 Cor. i. 22, 23. 'Now he which establisheth us with 
you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God, who hath 
sealed us, and given the earnest of his spirit in our 
hearts.' " 

An "earnest" is a part given as a pledge that the 
remainder will be given. Thus, Eph. i. 13, 14, "In 
whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with 



OF THE SAINTS. 321 

the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of 
our inheritance." Eph. iv. 30, "Grieve not the Holy 
Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of 
redemption." 

"The question now arises, will not the saints, after 
they have been thus sealed, be known of God, and be 
established and saved from destruction? And after 
they have received the seal of the Spirit as an earnest 
of heaven, will they be disappointed about the remain- 
der? If so, it will make the seal of God a less security 
than the seal of his creatures. It is to be observed 
also, that this seal is to secure the saints ' unto the 
day of redemption,' after which they will be in no 
danger." 

And now, the Apostle John, as if to seal all that 
has been said of Hymen eus, and Alexander, and all 
other apostates, says, "They went out from us, but 
they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they 
would no doubt have continued with us." 1 John 
ii. 19. 

"They were not of us." Here the Apostle uses a 
tense, which utterly forbids the supposition that such 
persons were ever pious. His assertion is equivalent 
to, "If they had ever been of us, they would no doubt 
have continued with us." 

But, continues the Conference, "Thirdly, those who 
are engrafted into the good olive tree, the spiritual 
invisible church, may neveistheless so fall from God, as 
to perish everlastingly. For thus saith the apostle, 
6 Some of the branches were broken off, and thou art 
grafted in among them, and with them partakest of 
the root and fatness of the olive tree. Be not high 
minded, but fear. If God spared not the natural 
branches, take heed, lest he spare not thee. Behold 
the goodness and severity of God! On them which 
fell, severity; but toward thee goodness, if thou con- 
tinue in his goodness. Otherwise thou shalt be cut 
off.' Rom. xi. 17, 20, 22. 



322 PERSEVERANCE 

" We may here observe, I. The persons spoken of, 
were actually grafted into the olive tree. 

" 2. This olive tree is not barely the outward visi- 
ble church, but the invisible, consisting of holy be- 
lievers. So the text, 'If the first fruit be holy, the 
lump is holy, and if the root be holy, so are the 
branches.' 'And (verse 20) because of unbelief they 
were broken off, and thou standest by faith.' 

" 3. These holy believers were liable to be cut off 
from the invisible church, into which they were then 
grafted. 

"4. There is not the least intimation of those who 
were so cut off, being ever engrafted in again. There- 
fore, those who are grafted into the good olive tree, 
may nevertheless so fall from God as to perish ever- 
lastingly."* 

In reply to this, we admit that the "olive tree" 
means the church. We farther admit, that the Jews, 
as a nation, were engrafted into the olive tree, or 
church. But although in being possessed of "the 
oracles of God," Rom. iii. 1, 2; they "partook of the 
root and fatness of the olive tree," Rom. xi. 17; "they 
were not all children, because they were the seed of 
Abraham." Rom. ix. 7. It no more follows then, 
because they were blessed with a pious ancestry, and 
had been brought into the church externally, by a sa- 
cred rite, that those " branches" which "were broken 
off because of unbelief," Rom. xii. 17, 20, must at 
some time have been truly pious, than that the bap- 
tized children of pious parents must be pious now. If 
then, any of the branches that were broken off, were 
never pious, (and we know they were not,) how could 
they have fallen from grace in the sense contended 
for? That not a saint was lost by the breaking off of 
some of the branches, is evident from what is said in 
the first part of the chapter, " God hath not cast away 

* Doctrinal Tracts, page 217. 



OF THE SAINTS. 323 

his people whom he foreknew." "What then? Israel 
hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the 
election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded." 
Rom. xi. 2, 7. 

But, continues the General Conference again, 
" Those who are branches of the true vine, of whom 
Christ says, 4 1 am the vine, ye are the branches,' may 
nevertheless so fall from God as to perish everlast- 
ingly. For thus saith our blessed Lord himself, ' I 
am the vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh 
away. I am the vine, ye are the branches. If a man 
abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is 
withered: and men gather them and cast them into 
the fire, and they are burned.' John xv. 1, 6. Here 
we may observe, 1. The persons spoken of, were in 
Christ, branches of the true vine. 2. Some of these 
branches abide not in Christ, but the Father taketh 
them away. 3. The branches which abide not are 
cast forth, cast out of Christ and his church. 4. They 
are not only cast forth, but are withered, consequently 
never grafted in again. Nay, 5. They are not only 
cast forth and withered, but also cast into the fire, and 
so they are burned. It is not possible for words more 
strongly to declare that even those who are now 
branches of the true vine, may yet so fall as to perish 
everlastingly."* 

Notwithstanding this strong confidence, we may 
safely admit the whole argument, without admitting the 
doctrine of falling from grace.* For as " there are some 
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after 
the spirit," Rom. viii. 1, it follows that there are some 
"in Christ Jesus who walk after the flesh" merely. 
In other words, as a man may be in the church with- 
out piety, he may be in Christ by profession only. 
"For he is not a Jew," who is one outwardly, neither 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 220, 221. 



324 PRESEVERANCE 

is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but 
he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision 
is of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter." 
Rom. ii. 28, 29. a Every branch" therefore of the 
vine, that beareth not fruit, may be taken away and 
wither" for want of the restraints and wholesome in- 
fluences of the Church, "and be cast into the fire and 
burned," without having ever derived more nourish- 
ment from Christ than those branches derived from 
the olive tree, that " were broken off because of unbe- 
lief," and who were never pious. 

Having thus disposed of a fourth objection, we 
proceed. 

" Fifthly, those who so effectually know Christ, as 
by that knowledge to have escaped the pollutions of 
the world, may yet fall back into these pollutions and 
perish everlastingly. For thus saith the Apostle 
Peter, ' If after they have escaped the pollutions of 
the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Sa- 
viour Jesus Christ,' (the only possible way of escap- 
ing them,) 'they are again entangled therein and 
overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the 
beginning. For it had been better for them not to 
have known the way of righteousness, than after they 
have known it, to turn from the holy commandment 
delivered unto them.' 2 Pet. ii. 20, 21. 

" That the knowledge they had attained was an in- 
ward experimental knowledge, is evident from that 
other expression — 'they had escaped the pollutions 
of the world,' an expression, parallel to that in 
the preceding chapter, verse 4, ' Having escaped the 
corruption that is in the world.' And in both chap- 
ters this effect is ascribed to the same cause, termed in 
the first, ' the knowledge of him who hath called us to 
glory and virtue.' In the second, more explicitly, 
'the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.' 
And yet they lost that experimental knowledge of 
Christ, and the way of righteousness. They fell back 



OF THE SAINTS. 325 

into the same pollutions they had escaped, and were 
again entangled and overcome. They 'turned from 
the holy commandment delivered unto them,' so that 
their latter end was worse than the beginning."* 

To this we reply, the animals with which these 
apostates are in the next verse compared, viz. dogs 
and swine, forbid the idea of their having undergone 
anything more than an external reformation. A dog 
having disgorged the pollutions of his stomach, swal- 
lows it again; and the swine that is washed from the 
defilement of the mire, returns to it again. If then, 
these animals may for a time put off their pollutions 
without a change of nature, surely men, who, from 
their principles and habits are compared to them, may 
undergo a great external reformation, and make a 
profession of religion without a change of heart. And 
when they go back to their old habits, nothing could 
more strikingly express what they do, than to say, 
"It has happened unto them according to the true 
proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again, 
and the sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the 
mire." 2 Pet. ii. 22. 

As to what is said of their having "escaped the 
pollutions of the world through the knowledge of 
Christ," no doubt many of the gentiles underwent a 
great external reformation through the preaching of 
the Apostles; yet "having no root in themselves, they 
endured but for a while." Matt. xiii. 21. And being 
"again entangled and overcome," like all relapses, 
"the latter end was worse than the beginning." 

But let us hear the General Conference again. 

" Sixthly, those who see the light of the glory of 
God in the face of Jesus Christ, and who have been 
made partakers of the Holy Ghost, of the witness and 
fruits of the Spirit, may nevertheless, so fall from 
God, as to perish everlastingly. For thus saith the 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 223, 224. 
28 



326 PERSEVERANCE 

inspired writer to the Hebrews, 'It is impossible for 
those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of 
the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the 
Holy Ghost — if they shall fall away, to renew them 
again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves 
the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open 
shame.' Heb. vi. 4, 6. 

"Must not every unprejudiced person see the ex- 
pressions here used are so strong and clear, that they 
cannot, without gross and palpable wresting, be under- 
stood of any but true believers ? 

" 'They were once enlightened,' an expression fa- 
miliar with the Apostle, and never by him applied to 
any but believers. So, 'the God of our Lord Jesus 
Christ give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revela- 
tion: the eyes of your understanding being enlight- 
ened, that ye may know what is the hope of his 
calling, ard what is the exceeding greatness of his 
power toward them that believe. ' Eph. i. 17 — 19. 
So again: 'God who commanded the light to shine 
out of darkness, hath shined into our hearts, to give 
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the 
face of Jesus Christ.' 2 Cor. iv. 6. This is the light 
which no unbelievers have. They are utter stran- 
gers to such enlightening. ' The god of this world 
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest 
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine 
unto them.' Verse 4. 

" ' They had tasted of the heavenly gift, (emphati- 
cally so called,) and were made partakers of the Holy 
Ghost.' So St. Peter likewise couples them together. 
'Be baptized for the remission of sins, and ye shall 
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost,' Acts ii. 38; 
whereby the love of God was shed abroad in their 
hearts with all the other fruits of the Spirit. Yea, it 
is remarkable that our Lord himself, in his grand 
commission to St. Paul, (to which the Apostle proba- 
bly alludes in these words,) comprises all these three 



OF THE SAINTS. 327 

particulars : ' I send thee to open their eyes, and to 
turn them from darkness to light, and from the power 
of Satan unto God,' (here contracted into that one 
expression, 'they were enlightened,') that they may 
receive 'forgiveness of sins,' ('the heavenly gift') 
'and an inheritance among them that are sanctified,' 
Acts xxvi. 18, which are made 'partakers of the 
Holy Ghost' of all the sanctifying influences of the 
Spirit. 

"The expression, 'They tasted of the heavenly 
gift,' is taken from the Psalmist, 'Taste and see that 
the Lord is good.' Psalm xxxiv. 8. As if he had 
said, 'Be ye assured of his love as of anything ye see 
with your eyes. And let the assurance thereof be 
sweet to your soul, as honey is to your tongue.' 

"And yet those who had been thus 'enlightened,' 
had 'tasted' this 'gift,' and been thus 'partakers of 
the Holy Ghost,' so 'fell away,' that it was impossible 
to renew them again to repentance."* 

But notwithstanding the General Conference are so 
sure that "the expressions" under consideration "can- 
not be understood of any but true believers," without 
noticing the sophistries by which they undertake to 
sustain their position, we undertake to show that they 
do not necessarily imply any such thing. We will 
take them up in the order in which they stand. 

"Those who were once enlightened." Num. xxiv. 
2, 3, &c. "And the Spirit of God came upon Ba- 
laam, and he took up his parable and said, Balaam the 
son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are 
opened hath said," &c. And yet this Balaam "so 
loved the wages of unrighteousness," 2 Peter ii. 15, 
that in the face of the express command of God, Num. 
xxii. 12, he was intensely anxious to curse the people 
of God that he might obtain the wages. See Num. 
xxii. 23. 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pp, 225, 226. 



328 PERSEVERANCE 

"And have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were 
made partakers of the Holy Ghost." Matt. x. 1 — 4. 
"And when Jesus had called unto him his twelve dis- 
ciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to 
cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness, and 
all manner of disease. Now the names of the twelve 
Apostles are these: the first, Simon, &c, and Judas 
Iscariot who also betrayed him." Did not Judas Is- 
cariot then, taste of the heavenly gift, and partake of 
the Holy Ghost in his miraculous powers? Yet he was 
at no time a believer, John vi. 64, and in his dispo- 
sition he resembled the devil. John vi. 70. 

"And have tasted of the good word of God." Matt. 
xiii. 20, 21. " But he that received the seed in stony 
places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon 
with joy receiveth it, yet he hath not root in himself, 
but endureth for a while." 

"And (have tasted) of the powers of the world to 
come." Acts xxiv. 25. "And as Paul reasoned of 
righteousness, temperance, and a judgment to come, 
Felix trembled, and said, Go thy way for this time, 
when I have a convenient season I will call for 
thee."* 

And thus, persons may experience every thing stated 
in this awful passage, without being truly converted 
to God. 

The reader will notice the consequences of falling 
from grace. "It is impossible to renew them again 
to repentance." This part of this passage is strangely 
overlooked by Arminians. Admitting that they have 
made out their case, viz. that " If they shall fall 
away," implies that pious men may fall from grace, 
"it is impossible to renew them again to repent- 
ance," implies that they can never be restored, 
which, if allowed, would almost break up Arminian 
salvation. 

* Calvinistic Magazine. 



OF THE SAINTS. 329 

"But," asks Mr. Wesley, "does not Christ say, 
1 He that believeth hath everlasting life?' John iii. 36, 
'and he that believeth on him that sent me, hath ever- 
lasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but 
is passed from death unto life?' " verse 24. In reply 
to which he says, " I answer, 1. The love of God is 
everlasting life. It is, in substance, the life of heaven. 
Now every one that believes, loves God, and therefore 
'hath everlasting life.' 2. 'Every one that believes' 
is, therefore, 'passed from death unto life;' and, 3. 
'Shall not come into condemnation,' if he endureth in 
the faith unto the end, according to our Lord's own 
words, 'He that endureth to the end shall be 
saved ;' and ' Verily I say unto you, if a man keep 
my saying, he shall never see death.' " John viii. 51.* 

Here, it is admitted, that " every one that believes, 
loves God," but it is contended, that "the love of God 
is the everlasting life" referred to, by Christ, when he 
says, "He that believeth, hath everlasting life." Let 
us try a single passage by this new translation. 

Christ says, John x. 27, 28, " My sheep hear my 
voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I 
give unto them eternal life, and they shall never pe- 
rish," &c. Now, according to the new translation, 
when Christ says, "I give unto them eternal life," it 
should be, "I give unto them the love of God." But 
this brings up a difficulty. Those who follow Christ, 
must, at the same time, love him ; and if they love 
him, they will love God ; then it will follow, that when 
he says, " I give unto them eternal life," he means to 
say, "I give to those that love God, the love of God." 
Since, therefore, the rendering of Mr. Wesley and the 
General Conference involves such an absurdity, we 
greatly prefer the rendering of Christ. 

Here, however, we are met by alleged facts, and as 
a Quaker once remarked to us, "facts are facts." 

* Doctrinal Tracts, page 216. 
28* 



330 PERSEVERANCE 

" Adam," it is said, "was made in the image of God," 
yet he fell; and certain "angels, which kept not their 
first estate, are reserved in everlasting chains unto 
the judgment of the great day." Why then, may not 
Christians fall? God loved these angels, and our 
progenitors, as much as he loves us, and had as much 
power to uphold them."* 

To this we reply. Under the old covenant of 
works, man was entrusted with grace, yet soon be- 
came a bankrupt. But under the new covenant of 
grace, Christ, who is "made a surety of a better tes- 
tament," Heb. vi. 22, "is the mediator of a better 
covenant, established upon better promises," Heb. vii. 
6. He, therefore, retains the stock of grace for his 
people in his own hands, and imparts it to them ac- 
cording to their necessities. Hence, he says, " My 
grace is sufficient for thee," 2 Cor. xii. 9; "and as 
thy days, so shall thy strength be." Deut. xxxiii. 25. 
Upon such a surety, therefore, and this "better cove- 
nant," and these "better promises," the believer 
surely may rely. In reference to angels, we suppose 
that, like our first parents, they, for a time, were in a 
state of trial, and that as our first parents by " eat- 
ing of the tree of life would have lived for ever," Gen. 
iii. 29, with the "angels who kept their first estate," 
the day of trial is over. "But," says the Rev. J. L. 
Gilbert, of the Baltimore Conference, " There is an- 
other prominent example of final apostacy, contained 
in the Scriptures, which our author (Rev. H. H. 
Paine,) has seen fit to pass by in silence, notwith- 
standing his pledge to notice the strongest objections. 
. . . I wonder if he never heard of the case of Saul, 
king of Israel, as an objection to his favourite doctrine, 
of whom it is said, ' God gave him another heart . . . 
and the Spirit of God came upon him,' &c. But how 
was it with Saul when he rebelled against the will of 

* Compendium of Methodism, page 280. 



OF THE SAINTS. 331 

God? Was he a sickly Christian too? We are told, 
1 Sam. xxxi. 14, 'But the Spirit of the Lord departed 
from Saul,' and did he ever recover? No, never, for 
the Bible assures us that he lived a life of wickedness, 
and died a violent and horrible death, a victim of his 
own spear, a self-murderer."* 

From the fact that "God gave to Saul another 
heart," and " the Spirit of the Lord came upon him," 
it is inferred that he was thereby made a pious man; 
and because " the Spirit of the Lord departed from 
him," it is inferred that he lost his piety. Let us 
see. By comparing 1 Sam. xiii. 1, with 1 Sam. xiv. 
35, we learn that Saul was king over Israel more than 
two years before "he built an altar unto the Lord," 
and that "was the first he built." 

What! a man king over the people of God more 
than two years before he built the first altar to the 
Lord he ever built, and he a pious man? Such an 
idea is out of the question. Besides, nearly every 
recorded act of Saul of a religious character, after his 
supposed conversion, savours far more of rash impiety 
than it does of piety. If then the tree may be known 
by its fruit, this was a corrupt tree. What then are 
we to understand by the expressions, " Gocl gave him 
another heart;" "the Spirit of God came upon him," 
and " the Spirit of the Lord departed from him ?" In 
the tenth chapter of 1st Samuel, we learn that imme- 
diately after he was anointed king, the prophet told 
him, that when, on his journey home, he should come 
to a certain place, he would be met by a company of 
prophets prophesying — that " the Spirit of the Lord 
would come upon him, and he would prophesy, and be 
turned into another man," that is, into a prophet. 
Accordingly, when he came to the place that had 
been designated, and the prophets met him, "the 
Spirit of God came upon him and he prophesied 

* Review of Mr. Paine's Sermon, page 26. 



332 PERSEVERANCE 

among them, and the people said one to another, Is 
Saul also, among the prophets?" Here then, we sup- 
pose, is the fulfilment of all that was meant by the 
expressions, " God gave him another heart," and " the 
Spirit of God came upon him." Now, unless it can 
be shown that because a man was a true prophet he 
was necessarily pious, it cannot be shown that Saul 
was pious. We can show exactly to the contrary. 
When Paul says, " Though I have the gift of pro- 
phesy, and understand all mysteries, and all know- 
ledge, and have not charity, I am nothing," 1 Cor. 
xiii. 2, he seems to intimate that a man might be a 
true prophet without being himself pious. Accord- 
ingly, we read of Balaam, who although a true pro- 
phet, yet so "loved the wages of unrighteousness," 
2 Pet. ii. 15, that he made great effort to pronounce a 
prophetic curse upon the people of God, that he might 
obtain the wages, though he had been forbidden by 
the Almighty to do so. Num. xxii. xxiii. xxiv. 

Our Saviour speaks of some also, to whom he will 
say in the day of judgment, although they had pro- 
phesied in his name, "I never knew you." Matt. vii. 
23. As then "the Spirit of God came upon Saul" so 
as to make him a prophet, without making him pious, 
surely, when it "departed from him" it does not fol- 
low that he lost his piety. If he did, he must have 
lost what he had not possessed. 

We come next to the case of David. His case is 
stated thus: 

" Mr. Paine has it, that when David's soul was pol- 
luted by adultery, and stained with the blood of 
(Uriah), he was nothing more at worst than (a) sickly 
Christian," (thus) "teaching that a man may be an 
adulterer and murderer, and yet be a Christian."* 

In reply to this, we remark, that true piety may 
exist in connection with practices under particular 

* Gilbert's Review of Mr. Paine's Sermon, pp. 24, 25. 



OF THE SAINTS. 333 

circumstances, whereas it could not exist in connection 
with the same practices, if the circumstances are what 
thej often are in other places. That there are rare 
cases of piety among the Roman Catholics, no well- 
informed person doubts; yet piety could not exist in 
connection with such mummeries among Protestants. 
Concubinage or polygamy would be utterly inconsist- 
ent with piety in any part of Christendom now; yet 
Abraham, the father of the faithful, had a wife and a 
concubine ; and the patriarch Jacob, of whose piety 
no one doubts, had two wives and several concubines. 
Without a word of revelation on the subject beyond 
the fact, that one of each sex was created at the be- 
ginning, these good men fell in with what was a gene- 
ral custom around them, and seem never to have 
supposed that in so doing there was the least impro- 
priety. The same may be said of the pious kings of 
Israel also, and their numerous wives, and numerous 
concubines. 

In the days of David, monarchy and tyranny may^ 
be said to have been universal. It is not so astonish- 
ing, therefore, that he should have committed a sin 
which would have scarcely been considered a crime in 
any other sovereign of that day. Although then, it 
is a lasting stain upon his character, yet when we 
hear him confess, as soon as he is charged with the 
offence, "I have sinned," 2 Sam. xii. 7 — 13, and see 
the evidence of his deep repentance, Psalm li., we 
cannot reasonably doubt of^ a pious principle within. 
But if such was the penitence of David for a sin com- 
mitted under the comparatively dim light in which he 
lived, is not the impenitence of Messrs. Wesley, Wat- 
son, Fisk, and the General Conference, for their mis- 
representations, garblings, forgeries, &c, committed 
under the blaze of a meridian sun, far stronger evi- 
dence that they themselves had fallen from grace 
than that David had? 

We come to notice next, what is said of Solomon. 



334 PERSEVERANCE 

In Tract No. 13 of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
we have his case stated as follows, viz. " David in 
giving advice to his son Solomon, exhorts him thus: 
'And thou, Solomon mj son, know thou the God of 
thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart, and 
with a willing mind ; for the Lord searcheth all hearts ; 
and understandeth the imaginations of the thoughts. 
If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou 
forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.' 1 Chron. 
xxviii. 9. 

" But it is manifest that Solomon failed in his duty, 
and did forsake the Lord. Some of the last accounts 
we have of him, except the bare mention of his death, 
are these — ' Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the god- 
dess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom, the abomi- 
nation of the Ammonites; and Solomon did evil in the 
sight of the Lord.' 1 Kings xi. 5, 6. 

" Again, the word of inspiration declares, ' Then 
did Solomon build a high place for Ghemosh, the 
abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jeru- 
salem; and for Molech, the abomination of the chil- 
dren of Ammon.' 'And the Lord was angry with 
Solomon, because his heart' (observe, 'his heart') 'was 
turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had ap- 
peared unto him.' 1 Kings xi. 7, 9. We read posi- 
tively, verse 40, that ' Solomon sought to kill Jero- 
boam.' And the Apostle John assures us, that 
' Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye 
know,' (adds he) 'that no murderer hath eternal life 
abiding in him.' " 1 John iii. 15. 

In addition to the above, we have the following 
from the Rev. J. L. Gilbert. " Where does Mr. Paine 
find that Solomon recovered from his apostacy? We 
challenge him to show a syllable to that effect in the 
Bible."* 

That Solomon was pious in the earlier part of his 

* Review of Mr. Paine's Sermon, page 25. 



OF THE SAINTS. 335 

reign, is not questioned, but it is contended that he 
fell from grace and did not recover. These then are 
the points we have to refute. 

We have already shown, that it is not easy to deter- 
mine how far a man may fall into sin without falling 
from grace, and that if the doctrine contended for be 
sustained, viz. that a righteous man who sins shall 
die in his sins, Messrs. Wesley, Watson, Fisk, the 
General Conference, &c, are fallen beyond recovery. 
It is true, Mr. Gilbert says, "that David and Peter 
recovered from their backslidings, and in their reco- 
very we have an infallible pledge that any other back- 
sliding child of God may recover."* But it is true 
also, that this is directly against the doctrine as it is 
again and again laid down by the founder of Method- 
ism and the General Conference. We have seen also, 
that eminent piety may exist in connection with prac- 
tices under particular circumstances, whereas, it could 
not exist in connection with these practices, if the 
circumstances were as they are with us, and hence that 
we are not to judge the saints of the Old Testament 
as we would judge ourselves. Now these considera- 
tions weigh powerfully in the case before us. 

Again: although Solomon fell into great and nume- 
rous sins, God in permitting them, seems to have 
intended to teach all future ages how vain it is to ex- 
pect any real good from anything short of himself: 
hence he selected the most favoured of the sons of 
men for the experiment. " For what can the man do 
that cometh after the king*?" Eccl. ii. 12. "I, the 
preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I 
gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom con- 
cerning all things that are done under heaven." "I 
have seen all the works that are done under the sun, 
and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit." " I 
communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come 

* Review of Mr. Paine's Sermon, page 25. 



336 PERSEVERANCE 

to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all 
that have been before me in Jerusalem." "I said, 
Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth ; therefore 
enjoy pleasure, and behold, this also is vanity. I said 
of laughter, It is mad : and of mirth, What doeth it ? I 
sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, and 
to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that 
good for the sons of men, which they should do under 
the heaven all the days of their life," — "and whatso- 
ever mine eyes desired, I kept not from them, I with- 
held not my heart from any joy." "Then I looked 
on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on 
the labour that I had laboured to do, and bembld, all 
was vanity and vexation of spirit." Eccl. i. ii. That 
he did not totally apostatize, appears, 

1. From the reserve expressed, 1 Kings xi. 4 — 6. 
"His heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as 
was the heart of David his father." " And Solomon 
did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully 
after the Lord, as did David his father." Now this 
was spoken of him in reference to the time of his 
greatest wickedness. 

2. From what is said in reference to all the pious, 
"Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down." 
"Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly 
take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail." 

It is true that Solomon did seek to kill Jeroboam, 
but it is true also, that it was because Jeroboam had 
"lifted up his hand against him." 1 Kings xi. 26. 
Unless, therefore, it would be wrong for the civil au- 
thority to quell treason with the death of the traitor, 
it was not wrong for king Solomon to seek to kill 
Jeroboam. 

But it is said, that the sins that have been mentioned 
are "some of the last accounts we have of Solomon's 
life." It is to be borne in mind, however, that events 
recorded in the Scriptures, are not always recorded in 
chronological order. There is not the slightest evi- 



OF THE SAINTS. 337 

dence therefore, that these acts were among the last 
acts of his life. Indeed, the book of Ecclesiastes is at 
war with that supposition. 

That he was a pious man when he wrote the Book 
of Ecclesiastes, in which he confessed the sins of which 
it is said he did not repent, there can be no doubt. 
And that he did this late in life, there is abundant 
evidence in the book. Take this in connection with 
what is said of the sacred writers generally, viz. that 
"Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the 
Holy Ghost," 2 Pet. i. 21, and we think, notwith- 
standing the "challenge" of Mr. Gilbert, there is evi- 
dence that he died a pious man. 

The case of Judas Iscariot stands next on the 
docket. In reference to him we have the following in 
the "Compendium of Methodism, pp. 277, 278," viz. 

"To believe that Christ called a devil to the Apos- 
tleship, and flattered him with so many endearing 
titles, and other intimations of his entire confidence 
as he did, exceeds our credulity. If he was a hypo- 
crite, the Saviour knew it at the time he called him. 
But he treated him as a real friend, promoted and ca- 
ressed him as. a disciple indeed." "In view" (then) 
" of the facts that Judas was appointed to the highest 
office in the church, and clothed with power against 
unclean spirits to cast them out, and to heal all man- 
ner of disease, and sent forth to preach the kingdom 
of heaven, raise the dead, and cast out devils, and to 
be hated of all men, with the promise, if he should 
' endure to the end,' he should be saved, and the en- 
couragement that the 'hairs of his head were all 
numbered,' and treated in other respects by the Sa- 
viour as his ' own familiar friend,' till just before the 
betrayal — in view of these facts, we are constrained 
to believe that Judas was at first, and for the most of 
the time, a sincere Christian. There was no encour- 
agement to be a hypocrite at that age. It cost too 
much. Those who would be Christians were required 
29 



338 PERSEVERANCE 

to take up their cross and follow Christ, forsaking 
father and mother and all else. None were received 
on any other terms." 

To this we reply, that human reasoning, though 
very plausible, is often wonderfully at variance with 
facts, and when it is so, it must be fallacious. We will 
now see whether this is not so in the case before us. 

In John vi. 70, 71, Christ said to his disciples, and 
the connection shows that it was in the early part of 
his ministry, " Have not I chosen you twelve, and one 
of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot, the 
son of Simon, for he it was that should betray him, 
being one of the twelve." Again, the Apostle John 
speaking of Judas, "six days before the passover," 
soon after which our Saviour was betrayed, says, "he 
was a thief," "cared not for the poor," &c. Again, 
just before the betrayal, and immediately after our 
Saviour had washed his disciples' feet, he said, "Ye 
are clean, but not all," and John adds, "for he knew 
who should betray him, therefore said he, Ye are not 
all clean." John xiii. 10, 11. 

Here then, we learn that Christ continued one in 
the sacred office, from about the beginning of his 
(Christ's) ministry, till the close; whom he knew to 
be "a devil," "a thief," and an unclean person. 
Whether, then we ask, was it worse to call such a man 
to the Apostleship, or to continue him in the Apostle- 
ship after his character was discovered? 

Again, in the 22d Psalm, the 53d chapter of Isaiah, 
and in Daniel ix. 26, the crucifixion of Cnrist is ex- 
pressly foretold. David also, personating Christ, 
says, Psalm xli. 9, "Mine own familiar friend, in 
whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted 
up his heel against me." See also Acts i. 16. Our 
Saviour, referring to these passages, says, Matt. xxvi. 
23, 21, " He that dippeth his hand with me in the 
dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man 
goeth, as it is written of him : but wo unto that man 



OP THE SAINTS. 339 

by whom the Son of man is betrayed," &c. Now, as 
"in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and 
knowledge," Col. ii. 3, so that he " knoweth all things," 
John xxi. 16, he must have known that Judas would 
betray him, when he called him to the ministry. Ac- 
cordingly we are told, John vi. 64, not only that 
Judas "believed not," but that Christ " knew it from 
the beginning." Whatever may be the reasoning 
therefore which would make it improbable that our 
Saviour would knowingly call an "unbeliever," "a 
devil," "a thief," an "unclean" person, and a traitor, 
to be an Apostle, the facts are clear that he did call 
him. And though we might offer important con- 
siderations why he called him, we do not desire to be 
heard about a matter in reference to which the Scrip- 
tures are silent. 

But there is still another text, so often brought up, 
in reference to Judas, that it may be well to notice it 
also. 

"While I was with them in the world, I kept them 
in thy name; those that thou gavest me I have kept, 
and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition ; that 
the Scriptures might be fulfilled." John xvii. 12. 
That the passage does not imply that Judas was a 
Christian is evident, 1. from the fact that he is called 
"the son of perdition;" 2. from other texts in which 
the same form of expression occurs. Thus, in Luke 
iv. 25, we are told, that " many widows were in Israel 
in the days of Elias, when .the heavens were shut up 
three years and six months, when great famine was 
throughout all the land, but unto none of them was 
Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a 
woman that was a widow." That "many lepers were 
in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none 
of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian." 
And that "there shall in no wise enter into it" (the 
heavenly Jerusalem) "anything that defileth, neither 
whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie ; but 



340 PERSEVERANCE 

they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." 
Rev. xxi. 27. 

Now in each of these texts, the latter clause is not 
an exception to what is asserted in the former, but 
asserts a different fact. The following is plainly the 
meaning, viz. "There shall in no wise enter into it 
anything that defileth, &c, but they which are written 
in the Lamb's book of life," shall enter in. "Many 
widows were in Israel in the days of Elias — but unto 
none of them was he sent, but he was sent unto Sa- 
repta a city of Sidon, to a woman that was a widow." 
"Many lepers were in Israel, &c, and none of them 
was cleansed, but Naaman the Syrian was cleansed." 
And so in the text under consideration. " Those that 
thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost; 
but the son of perdition" is lost. 

That this is its meaning is evident, from the lan- 
guage of our Saviour in the 9th verse of the next 
chapter. To those who came to take him, he said, 
" If ye seek me, let these (my disciples) go their way, 
that the saying might be fulfilled which he spake, 
Of them which thou gavest me, have I lost none." 
John xviii. 9. Although, then, Judas Iscariot did fall 
from the Apostleship, Acts i. 25, nothing can be more 
evident that he did not fall from grace. But, not- 
withstanding, he is called "the son of perdition," and 
"went to his own place," Acts i. 15, and it is said 
that, "good would it have been for him if he had 
never been born," Dr. Clarke enters into a laboured 
argument to show not only, that he did not hang him- 
self, but that he was recovered from his apostasy, and 
is probably now in heaven. Of course, then, he has 
been there more than eighteen hundred years in a 
state of most awful distress, that "he ever was born." 
Should any of my readers be suffering from mental 
depression, and desire to have his risibles roused, let 
him read Dr. Clarke's comments on Acts i. 18, in 
which he undertakes to account for the death of Judas. 



. OF THE SAINTS. 341 

Not only does the writer guaranty a most hearty 
laugh, but also that he will be ready to say, Dr. 
Clarke, " thou art beside thyself, much learning hath 
made thee mad." Acts xxvi. 24. 

The only remaining example of falling from grace 
that is adduced, so far as we know, is that of the 
Apostle Peter. In the Compendium of Methodism, 
pp. 277, 278, we meet the following : 

" It is said Judas never was a Christian .... but 
Peter, though he lied outright, cursed and swore, pub- 
licly denying his master, was a Christian, even in the 
midst of his crimes, because he afterwards repented." 
" Thus in trying to sustain this dangerous notion, 
Calvinists implicate the honesty of him in whom there 
was no guile; and holding Peter a Christian, while he 
displayed such incontestable marks of a sinner, they 
leave us in utter confusion, as to who are Christians 
and who are not." 

That the best of men may, under sudden and pow- 
erful temptation, strikingly exhibit human weakness, 
cannot be denied. It is not usual, however, to con- 
sider this as decided evidence of their being destitute 
of principle, unless they deliberately persist in the sin. 
After the arrest of our Saviour, and " the disciples 
all forsook him and fled," Matt. xxvi. 56, Peter, 
through great love to his master, seems to have turned 
back, " followed him afar off, and went unto the high 
priest's palace, and went in, arid sat down with the 
servants to see the end." Jlatt. xxvi. 58. Having 
seen his master arrested, "spit" upon, "buffeted" 
and "smitten" amid an enraged multitude, Matt, 
xxvi. 67, the great and sudden fear lest he should 
share the same fate, was a powerful temptation to do 
as he did, when accused with being in league with the 
man under arrest. Up to the very time that he 
uttered the unfortunate language, there is not only no 
evidence, but it is not even pretended that he had 
fallen from grace. Judging from the narrative, we 
29* 



342 PERSEVERANCE 

can hardly suppose the period, from the time of the 
first denial till "he went out and wept bitterly," could 
have been more than an hour.* Surely, then, it is 
to lay aside all "charity," and to think all "evil," 
to conclude that the heart of a friend was changed 
from love to enmity, merely from the fact that under 
the powerful temptation of fear under most alarming 
circumstances, that friend profanely denied the man 
he loved, and continued in the denial for a single hour 
only. How Messrs. Wesley, Watson, Fisk, the Gene- 
ral Conference, &c, will fare under such a rule, it is, 
perhaps, not for us to determine. Peter fell and 
recovered in an hour, but they are not recovered 
yet. 

2. That Peter did not fall from grace, is evident 
from the language of our Saviour. Luke xxii. 82. 
" Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you, 
that he might sift you as wheat, but I have prayed 
for thee that thy faith fail not." "Satan hath desired," 
&c, "but I have prayed," &c. Surely, this is 
enough. Bishop Morris, of Ohio, says, "If Peter 
had died before he repented, he would have gone to 
hell," and we might say, "if the skies should come 
down, we would, &c, &c." 

All that has been said, however, is met by the testi- 
mony of experience. " Many have been known to 
give just this evidence, all that any one could reasona- 
bly ask for himself or his brethren, and after a term 
of years, by a change of circumstances, they have 
been led astray, one step after another, until they not 
only lost the spirit, but the form of religion, and became 
its deadly enemies, and died relentless. They bore 
the first fruits of piety, in public and private — they 
enjoyed the assurance in themselves, that they were 
born again, and clearly evinced the same to others; 
and even after their decline, looking back upon their 

* Seo Matt. xxvi. throughout, but especially verses 69 — 75. 



OF THE SAINTS. 343 

experience, they believed and confessed they -were 
converted. Is all this to pass for nothing ?* 

To this, we reply, that according to our Saviour, 
this evidence will be adduced in the day of judgment. 
" Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have 
we not prophesied in thy name?" (like Balaam and 
Saul,) " and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy 
name done many wonderful works," (that is, wrought 
miracles, like Judas.) But how will their plea be 
met ? " Then will I profess unto them, I never knew 
you ; depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matt, 
vii. 22, 23. " I know my sheep, and am known of 
mine," John x. 14 — but "I never knew you." 

Having shown that the final perseverance of the 
saints is a doctrine of the Methodist Church, and that 
falling from grace is an unscriptural doctrine of the 
same Church, we come to notice the objections urged 
by that denomination against the former of these doc- 
trines. And 

1. It is objected that this " doctrine is without 
warrant from the word of God," .... that " no pas- 
sage (of Scripture) clearly teaches it; none necessarily 
infers it ; no principle of revelation sanctions it ;" and 
that " if it could be true, its truth never can be 
derived from the B!ble."f 

The reader will not be at all surprised at the asser- 
tion, that a doctrine distinctly taught by standard 
writers in the Methodist Episcopal Church, is not 
taught in the Bible. That is one of their incon- 
sistencies. 

To the assertion that this doctrine is " without war- 
rant from the word of God, no passage clearly teaches 
it; none necessarily infers it," &c, another should 
have been added, "namely, after the word of God 
shall have passed through the Arminian crucible." 

* Compendium of Methodism, pp. 276, 277. 
f Objections to Calvinism, p. 179. 



344 PERSEVERANCE 

With this brief notice of this first objection, we 
proceed to a second, viz. "If the doctrine be true, a 
man after conversion is no longer a free agent. In 
this, as in all respects with the fate and absurdity of 
the system, he is brought under a necessity which he 
has no power to avoid. He cannot fall away from 
salvation," &c* 

In reply to this, we will first hear Mr. Wesley. 
"With regard to final perseverance, I am inclined to 
believe there is a state attainable in this life from 
which a man cannot finally fall."f 

Does any one believe Mr. Wesley intended to con- 
vey the idea, that he who attains a state from which 
he cannot finally fall, has, by making that attainment, 
lost his free agency ?J 

2. Let us hear Mr. Watson. " Imperfection must 
in comparison of God, and the creature's own capacity 
of improvement, remain the character of a finite be- 
ing; but it is not so clear that this imperfection must, 
at all times, and through the whole course of exist- 
ence imply liability to sin. God is free, and yet he 
cannot be tempted of evil." "It is impossible for him 
to lie, not for want of natural freedom, but because 
of an absolute moral perfection. Liberty and impecca- 
bility imply therefore no contradiction. "§ 

3. Let us hear the Apostle Paul. "For if when 
we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the 
death of his Son, much more being reconciled, we 
shall be saved by his life." Rom. v. 10. 

Now if there is no interference with moral liberty 
in reconciling enemies to God, does it follow that the 
grace which keeps them in a state of reconciliation, is 
so much greater than that which reconciled them, that 
"a man after conversion is no longer a free agent?" 

* Objections to Calvinism, page 196. 

f Works, Vol. III. page 289. 

J See his Sermon on "Divine Providence," Sec. 15. 

§ Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. vi. 



OF THE SAINTS. 345 

So thought not Paul. The Arminian, therefore, must 
give up his Wesley, his Watson, the Apostle Paul, &c, 
or give up his objection. His great error is, in sup- 
posing that one who loves God supremely, (as every 
Christian must,) may desire to fall from that state of 
love ; and that unless he is permitted to do so, he will 
be deprived of his liberty. Whereas such an aliena- 
tion of heart, implies the absence of all love. Although 
then, such a man may, in the exercise of free agency, 
fall into sin, he cannot fall from grace. 

This is perhaps the most artful objection ever 
brought against the doctrine, as it leads directly to 
an inquiry concerning the mode of the divine opera- 
tion on the human heart — a subject on which, while 
in this world, we must remain profoundly ignorant. 
But where reason fails, revelation shines with peculiar 
brightness. "Now unto him that is able to keep you 
from falling, and to present you faultless before the 
presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only 
wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty and do- 
minion and power." Jude 24. 

Here it is expressly declared, that the Lord " is 
able to keep his people from falling, and to present 
them faultless before the presence of his glory." To 
those therefore who urge the above objection, we 
reply, "ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, neither 
the power of God." See also Rom. xiv. 4. But 

3. " If this doctrine is true, it is no difference what 
a man does after conversion; he cannot peril his 
soul — cannot even render his salvation doubtful. Thus 
it inculcates recklessness and licenses crime." Then, 
after charging upon the Calvinist the " pre-irresistible 
regeneration" of the Methodist Church, the objector 
continues: "The man cannot avoid being regene- 
rated, and then being regenerated, he may become 
during life, a devil in sin, but he cannot miss heaven. 
Now, what sheer licentiousness is here ! what more is 
requisite to induce unlimited and incurable reckless- 



346 PERSEVERANCE 

ness? The man is in no danger; it is all one, let 
him indulge to the utmost excess; he is safe, and can- 
not be less so. Is this Christianity? Is this iniqui- 
tous teaching to be palmed upon the world as God's 
truth?"* 

By a saint, we understand one whose heart has 
been changed from a state of "enmity against God" 
(Rom. viii. 7) to love. So that he who was an enemy, 
has been "reconciled to God by the death of his Son," 
(Rom. v. 10,) and loves God supremely. By the per- 
severance of a saint, we understand, a continuance in 
that state of reconciliation. And yet we are told 
that if this "is true, it is no difference what a man 
does after conversion." He who is possessed of such 
a principle as the objector supposes, has never been 
"born again." Some children obey their parents 
through fear, others through love. The latter are 
afraid to offend them, because they love them. The 
former is a slave, the latter is a child. He then who 
does not endeavour to lead a life of holiness is not a 
child of God. "As many as are led by the Spirit of 
God, are the sons of God." As to the charge, that 
the idea of continuing in a state of reconciliation 
with, and love to God "inculcates recklessness, and 
licenses crime," it is necessary to state the charge 
only, to show its absurdity. Are those who embrace 
it persons of less truth, less honesty, less moral virtue 
than those who deny it? In the discharge of their 
duties to God and man are they notoriously deficient? 
In their attention to personal piety and family reli- 
gion, are they inferior to others? Have they less 
reverence for the Bible, less regard for the institutions 
of God? In those churches and neighbourhoods 
where this doctrine is most generally believed, is it a 
fact that less is done to give the Bible to every indi- 
vidual, and family, and nation under heaven ? The 

* Objections to Calvinism, page 197. 



OF THE SAINTS. 347 

reverse of all this is true. We will pass on therefore 
to another objection, viz. "If the doctrine of the 
final perseverance be true, then sin is not so abhor- 
rent in a Christian as it is in a sinner, and is not at- 
tended with the same consequences. The sins into 
which a believer may fall, are accounted sufficient to 
damn a sinner, but are not sufficient to make a whit 
uncertain the salvation of the believer, if committed 
by him."* 

We have already shown that a man may be a 
Christian without being absolutely free from sin — 
that if this be not so, there is no salvation for Messrs. 
Wesley, Watson, Fisk, the General Conference, &c. 
While then an impenitent sinner in sinning adds to 
his sins, a penitent believer is sure to repent of his 
sins. " Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast 
down." It is true, therefore, that "sin in a Christian 
is not attended with the same consequences, as it is 
in a sinner," &c. 

A fifth objection is, that if the doctrine be true, 
then, "all the exhortations, cautions, and warnings 
recorded in the Scriptures, are false colours and decep- 
tive motives. They are like the attempts of some 
weak parents, who undertake to frighten their children 
into obedience by superstitious tales and groundless 
fears. God knows when he is giving out these inti- 
mations of danger that there is no danger," &c.f 

It is admitted on all hands, that exhortations, 
cautions and warnings are. addressed to believers. 
" Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation." 
"What I say unto you, I say unto all, watch." 
" Work out your own salvation with fear and trem- 
bling." "If any man draw back, my soul shall have 
no pleasure in him," &c. Now, Calvinists contend 
that such exhortations, cautions, warnings, &c, so 
far from being inconsistent with the certainty of a 

* Objections to Calvinism, page 197. 
■f Calvinistic Controversy, page 34. 



348 PERSEVERANCE 

believer's salvation, are a necessary part of that sys- 
tem of means by which the people of God are " kept 
through faith unto salvation." Thus " when Christ 
was born in Bethlehem in the days of Herod, it was 
absolutely certain that he should not be slain for more 
than thirty-three years ; for Daniel, above five hun- 
dred years before, had pointed to the precise time, 
when Messiah should be cut off. It was absolutely 
certain he should live to perform the miracles which 
he did, on the sick, the blind, and the lame ; and that 
at his death he should be numbered with the trans- 
gressors, and then be buried with the rich man of 
Ariraathea ; for Isaiah had predicted these things 
seven hundred years before. It was absolutely certain 
that at his crucifixion they should give him vinegar 
to drink, mingled with gall, and that the soldiers 
should part his garments among them, and cast lots 
upon his vesture, for the Holy Ghost, by the mouth 
of David, had spoken of this above a thousand years 
before. Yet when Christ was born, and Herod was 
troubled, and sought to slay him, an angel of the 
Lord came to Joseph, saying, " Arise, and take the 
young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, for 
Herod will seek the young child to destroy him." 
Matt. ii. 13. Had Joseph been of the opinion that 
when an event is rendered certain by the purpose of 
God, the means necessary to bring it about may be 
dispensed with, he would most likely have replied, 
"Thou angel of the Lord! I do not see the necessity 
of going into Egypt. If what David and Isaiah and 
Daniel have said, be true, Messiah will not be cut off 
by Herod. He has yet to live many years, and per- 
form many marvellous works, and then die in a manner 
quite different from what Herod designs. This jour- 
ney is therefore altogether useless. Your warning " is 
like the attempt of some weak parent who undertakes 
to frighten his child into obedience by superstitious 
tales and groundless fears. You know, when giving 



OF THE SAINTS. 349 

out these intimations of danger, that there is no 
danger." Joseph's creed was more orthodox. He 
considered the purposes and promises of God as per- 
fectly consistent with his commands, and the duties 
he requires of us. "He arose and took the young 
child and his mother, and went into Egypt." Herod 
spent his rage. Christ was not slain. He lived till 
the time Daniel had mentioned — performed the works 
the prophets had foretold, and was put to death as 
had been predicted. 

Now in this case, the event was certain, and yet 
the warning given was neither absurd nor useless. 
It had its intended effect, and in due time all was 
fulfilled. 

In like manner, the exhortations, cautions and 
warnings addressed to believers, are not designed to 
shake their confidence in the " exceeding great and 
precious promises of God, or to persuade them that it 
is not safe to put entire trust in his word, but to teach 
them the way in which they should walk, and keep 
them from the evil that is in the world, and fit them 
for the heavenly kingdom."* But 

6. " Has a man already tasted of the good word of 
God, and the powers of the world to come ? Being 
justified by faith, hath he peace with God ? Then 
sin hath no more dominion over him. But by and by, 
considering he may fall foully indeed, but cannot fall 
finally, he is not so jealous over himself as he was at 
first. He grows a little and^ittle slacker, till ere long 
he falls again into the sin from which he was clean 
escaped. As soon as you perceive he is entangled 
again and overcome, you apply the Scriptures relating 
to that state. You conjure him not to harden his 
heart any more, lest his last state be worse than the 

* The above reply, with some additions and omissions, is taken 
from a sermon on the " Saints' Perseverance," by the Rev. James 
Gallaher. 

30 



350 PERSEVERANCE 

first. ' How can that be ?' says he : i Once in grace, 
always in grace; and I am sure I was in grace once. 
You shall never tear away my shield.' So he sins 
on, and sleeps on, till he awakes in hell."* 

Here it is contended that it is a natural tendency 
of the doctrine to beget carelessness and slothfulness 
in the divine life. That there is spiritual sloth to a 
greater or less extent, in every branch of the Church, 
cannot be denied. But the question is, does the doc- 
trine that a saint will persevere in a state of grace 
unto the end, or the doctrine that he may fall from 
grace, tend most to produce it? What is it, we ask, 
that more than anything else stimulates men to watch- 
fulness and effort in every undertaking? Is it a 
prospect of success, or a probability of failure? What 
is the effect of each on the farmer, the merchant, the 
politician, the soldier? In short, what is the effect 
on men of every calling. Are they not stimulated to 
effort in proportion as the prospect brightens, and 
chilled in their zeal in proportion as the prospect 
darkens? A report spread among the troops of 
Alexander the Great, when they were about to en- 
gage in battle with a foe vastly their superior in' 
number, that an eagle had just been seen to perch on 
Alexander's head, was followed by an onset of almost 
unparalleled impetuosity. But why was this? It 
was because it was considered tantamount to a decla- 
ration from heaven that they would be victorious. 
Now why the prospect of certainly reaching heaven 
should discourage us from setting out on the journey, 
or dampen our ardour in pursuing that journey, is to 
us one of the greatest of all mysteries. 

But continues Mr. Wesley, (and what he says is 
endorsed by the General Conference,) "The observing 
these melancholy examples day by day, this dreadful 
havoc which the devil makes of souls, especially of 
those who have begun to run well, by means of this 

* Doctrinal Tracts, p. 92. 



OF THE SAINTS. 351 

imscriptural doctrine, constrains me to oppose it from 
the same principle whereon I labour to save souls 
from destruction."* 

As no facts are given which go to sustain this 
general statement, and we are not aware of facts that 
will sustain it, let us see what has been the bearing 
of the doctrine that a saint may fall from grace, on 
the same point. 

Mr. Wesley, in his sermon on " The "Wisdom of 
God's Counsels," speaks of "thousands that once ran 
well," who "one after another drew back to perdi- 
tion." "Early in his career, he took the trouble of 
inquiring into the motives of seventy-six persons who 
in the course of three months had withdrawn from 
one of his societies. The result was curious. Four- 
teen said they left it because their ministers would 
not otherwise give them the sacrament. These were 
chiefly dissenters. Nine because their husbands or 
wives were unwilling they should stay in. Twelve 
because their parents were unwilling. Five because 
their masters and mistresses would not let them 
come. Seven because their acquaintances persuaded 
them to leave it. Five because people said such bad 
things of the society. Nine because they would not 
be laughed at. Three because they would not lose 
the poor allowance. Three because they could not 
spare the time to come. Two because it was too far 
off. One because she was afraid of falling into fits. 
One because people were so r,ude in the street. Two 
because Thomas Naisbit was in the society. One be- 
cause he would not turn his back on his baptism. One 
because the Methodists were Church of England men. 
And one because it was time enough to serve God 
yet."f 

" The character of the converts is exhibited by the 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 92, 93. 

f Soutliey's Life of Wesley, Vol. II. page 34. 



352 PERSEVERANCE 

account he gives of those who during the same time 
were expelled from the same society. They were two 
for cursing and swearing — two for habitual Sabbath- 
breaking — seventeen for drunkenness — four for retail- 
ing spirituous liquors — three for quarrelling and 
brawling — one for beating his wife — three for habitual 
lying — four for railing and evil speaking — one for 
idleness and laziness — twenty-nine for tightness and 
carelessness."* 

If then, one hundred and forty-one members of one 
society fell from grace in three months, how many 
fell from all the societies under Mr. Wesley's care in 
twelve months, is not for us to know. 

Again: Mr. Wesley, speaking of a great excite- 
ment in the school at Kingwood, during a religious 
service of five days, tells us that "the subjects of it 
were strong in the spirit, full of love, and joy, and 
peace in believing." Most of these were admitted to 
the Lord's supper for the first time the next day. Mr. 
Wesley inserted the whole account of it in his jour- 
nal. In a letter written at the same time, he says, 
" God sent down a shower of grace upon the chil- 
dren," &c. Twelve months afterwards he makes the 
following entry — " I spent an hour among our chil- 
dren at Kingwood. It is strange! How long shall 
we be constrained to weave Penelope's web? What 
is become of the wonderful work of grace which God 
wrought in them last September? It is gone! It is 
gone ! It is vanished away ! There is scarce any 
trace of it remaining. "f 

And yet Arminians would have us believe that the 
doctrine of the saint's perseverance powerfully tends 
to promote sluggishness in the divine life, while the 
doctrine that a saint may fall from grace is a power- 
ful incentive to diligence. 

Let the reader compare the facts just given with 

* Life of Wesley, Vol. II. page 34. f Ibid, page 230. 



^OF THE SAINTS. 353 

what he himself has witnessed in the Methodist 
Church, and he will conclude they are not done fall- 
ing yet. "Between the years 1844 and 1847 they 
sustained a net decrease of more than fifty thousand 
members."* Should not " the observing these melan- 
choly examples day by day, this dreadful havoc which 
the devil makes of souls by means of this unscriptural 
doctrine, constrain" Arminians " to oppose it on the 
same principle whereon" they "labour to save souls 
from destruction?" 

We will close this chapter with two quotations. 
The first is from the Doctrinal Tracts, page 342. 

" Question. May not some of those (who have the 
testimony, both of their justification and sanctifica- 
tion,) have a testimony from the Spirit that they shall 
not finally fall from God? 

"Ansiver. They may, and this persuasion, that 
neither life nor death shall separate them from Him, 
far from being hurtful, may, in some circumstances 
be extremely useful. These, therefore, we should in 
no wise grieve, but earnestly encourage them to 
hold the beginning of their confidence steadfast unto 
the end." 

Those who move in a circle, no matter what course 
they steer, by continuing their journey, are sure to 
get back to the starting point. Arminians accord- 
ingly, after laying down the doctrine of the final perse- 
verance of the saints, as undoubtedly true, set out in 
a circle of objections, and difficulties. By continuing 
however, they at length cast anchor, in the port from 
which they started, viz. that u far horn being hurtful, 
(it) may be extremely useful," and unite in the fol- 
lowing stanzas : 

" We have laid up our love, and our treasure above, 
Though our bodies continue below : 
The redeemed of the Lord, we remember his word, 
And with singing to Paradise go. 

* Compendium of Methodism, page 174. 
30* 



354 IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

With singing we praise the original grace, 
By our heavenly Father bestowed, 

Our being receive, from His bounty and love, 
To the honour and glory of God. 

For thy glory we are created to share, 
Both the nature and kingdom divine : 

Created again, that our souls may remain, 
In time and eternity thine. 

With thanks we approve, the design of thy love 7 
Which hath joined us in Jesus's name : 

So united in heart, that we never can part, 
Till we meet at the feast of the Lamb."* 



CHAPTER XVII 



IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 



In this chapter we take up that fundamental doc- 
trine of Christianity, u Justification by faith in the 
imputed righteousness of Christ." This was the 
great weapon of the Reformation. This Luther 
said, " is the article of a standing or a falling church." 
" ye fools," exclaims Mr. Wesley, "when will ye 
understand that the preaching of justification by faith 
alone, the allowing of no meritorious cause of justifi- 
cation, but the death and righteousness of Christ, and 
no conditional or instrumental cause but faith, is 
overturning Popery from the foundation ?"f 

That the reader may see how fully and unequivo- 
cally this Calvinistic doctrine is taught in the Metho- 
dist Church, I will first quote it as it is taught in the 
Presbyterian Church. In their Shorter Catechism, in 
answer to the question, "What is justification ?" we 
have the following answer, viz. " Justification is an 
act of God's free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our 

* Hymn 412, Methodist Hymn Book. 

f Suuthey's Life of Wesley, Vol. I. p. 141. 



IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 355 

sins, and accepteth us as righteous in his sight, 
only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us 
and received by faith alone." Now for the Metho- 
dists. 

The Rev. James Arminius, says, " I believe in my 
heart, and confess with my mouth, that I shall pass 
as a righteous man before God, only by faith in Jesus 
Christ: so that, though my conscience may accuse 
me, not only of having grievously sinned against all 
the commands of God, but also, of not having observed 
one of them, and of being likewise inclined to all 
evil ; yet provided I embrace these benefits with real 
confidence of heart, the perfect satisfaction, righteous- 
ness and holiness of Christ, will be imputed to me 
and bestowed upon me, without any merit of my own, 
and purely from the mercy of God: exactly as though 
I had never committed any sin, and as if no stain or 
taint had adhered to me. Nay, more than this, as 
though I had perfectly performed that obedience 
which Christ has performed for me : not because I 
can please God by the dignity of my faith, but 
because the sole satisfaction, righteousness, and holi- 
ness of Christ, are made my righteousness before 
God. But I am not able to embrace this righteous- 
ness, and to apply it to myself, in any other manner, 
than by faith."* 

Again he says, " I am not conscious to myself, of 
having taught, or entertained any other sentiments 
concerning the justification of man before God, than 
those which are held unanimously by the Reformed 
and Protestant Churches, and which are in complete 
accordance with their expressed opinions. 

" I believe that sinners are accounted righteous 
solely by the obedience of Christ ; and that the 
righteousness of Christ is the only meritorious cause, 
on account of which God pardons the sins of believers, 

* Life of Arminius, pp. 152, 153. 



356 IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

and reckons them as righteous, as if they had per- 
fectly fulfilled the law."* 

Mr. Wesley, in his sermon on Jeremiah xxiii. 6, 
says, " It was the least part of Christ's external 
righteousness, that he did nothing amiss ; that he 
knew no outward sin of any kind, neither was guile 
found in his mouth; that he never spoke one improper 
word, nor did one improper action. Thus far it is 
only a negative righteousness, though such an one as 
never did, nor ever can belong to any one that is 
born of a woman, save himself alone. But even his 
outward righteousness is positive too. ' He did all 
things well.' In every word of his tongue, in every 
work of his hands he did precisely the ' will of him 
that sent him.' In the whole course of his life, he 
did the will of God on earth, as the angels do it in 
heaven. All he acted and spoke was exactly right in 
every circumstance. The whole arid every part of 
his obedience was complete. He fulfilled all right- 
eousness." 

" But when is it that any of us may truly say, 
' The Lord our righteousness V In other words, 
when is it that the righteousness of Christ is imputed 
to us, and in what sense is it imputed ? 

" 1. Look through all the world, and all the men 
therein are either believers or unbelievers. The first 
thing then which admits of no dispute among reasona- 
ble men, is this. To all believers the righteousness 
of Christ is imputed ; to unbelievers it is not. 

" But when is it imputed ? When they believe. In 
that very hour the righteousness of Christ is theirs. 
It is imputed to every one that believes as soon as he 
believes. Faith and the righteousness of Christ are 
inseparable. For if he believes according to the 
Scriptures, he believes in the righteousness of Christ. 
There is no true faith, that is, justifying faith, 

* Life of Arminius, pp. 236, 337. 



IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 357 

which hath not the righteousness of Christ for its 
object. 

" 5. But in what sense is it that his righteousness 
is imputed to believers ? In this, all believers are 
forgiven, and accepted, not for the sake of anything 
in them, or of anything, that ever was, that ever is, 
or that can be done by them, but wholly and solely 

for what Christ hath done and suffered for them 

We are justified freely by his grace, through the 
redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And this is not 
only the means of our obtaining the favour of God, but 
of our continuing therein. . . . And this is the doc- 
trine I have constantly believed and taught for near 
eight and twenty years. This I published to all the 
world in 1738, and ten or twelve years since." "The 
hymns published a year or two after this, and since 
republished several times, speak full to the same pur- 
pose." "In the Sermon on Justification, published 
nineteen, and again seven or eight years ago, I ex- 
pressed the same thing. 

"But is not a believer invested or clothed with the 
righteousness of Christ ? Undoubtedly he is. And 
accordingly the words above recited, are the language 
of every believer's heart: 

"Jesus, thy blood and righteousness, 
My beauty are, my glorious dress." 

" That is, for the sake of thy active and passive 
righteousness, I am forgiven and accepted of God." 
" The righteousness of Christ is the whole and sole 
foundation of all our hope." "I therefore no more 
deny it, than I deny the Godhead of Christ. A man 
may full as justly charge me with denying the one as 
the other. Neither do I deny imputed righteousness; 
this is another unkind and unjust accusation. I al- 
ways did, and do still, continually affirm, that the 
righteousness of Christ is imputed to every believer. 
But who deny it? Why all infidels, whether baptized 



358 IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

or unbaptized : all who affirm the glorious gospel of 
our Lord Jesus Christ to be a cunningly devised fable. 
All Socinians and Arians; all who deny the supreme 
Godhead of the Lord that bought them. They of con- 
sequence deny his divine righteousness, as they sup- 
pose him to be a mere creature. And they deny his 
human righteousness as imputed to any man, seeing 
they believe every one is accepted for his own right- 
eousness. The human righteousness of Christ, at 
least the imputation of it, as the whole and sole meri- 
torious cause of the justification of a sinner before 
God, is likewise denied by the members of the Church 
of Rome," &c. "But blessed be God, we are not 
among those who are so dark in their conceptions and 
expressions. We no more deny the phrase than the 
thing." 

It is not possible for language to announce more 
unequivocally and clearly the Calvinistic doctrine of 
imputed righteousness. It is true, the Rev. R. Wat- 
son says : " This sermon, (from which the above is 
quoted,) " is one of peace; one in which he shows how 
near he was willing to approach those who held the 
doctrine of Calvin on this subject."* 

Again, he says: "Mr. Wesley's sermon on Imputed 
Righteousness, is an instance of his anxiety to ap- 
proach his Calvinistic brethren in his modes of ex- 
pression, as far as possible,"- &c.f 

From this it is evident, Mr. Watson would have us 
believe Mr. Wesley had, in this instance, stretched 
his belief. But although there is abundant evidence 
in the quotations themselves, that Mr. Watson is mis- 
taken, Mr. Wesley settles the question himself. Thus 
when "he stated his doctrinal views in perhaps as 
clear a manner, though in a summary form as at any 
period subsequently," he said: "I believe neither our 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxiii. 
f Watson's Life of Wesley, page 211. 



IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 359 

own holiness or goods works are any part of the cause 
of our justification; but that the death and righteous- 
ness of Christ are the whole and sole cause of it ; or 
that for the sake of which, on account of which, we 
are justified before God."* 

The Rev. R. Watson shall be our third witness. 
"The righteousness of Christ," says he, "denotes not 
only his absolute perfection, but is taken for his per- 
fect obedience unto death, and his suffering the pe- 
nalty of the law in our stead. "f u The imputation of 
Christ's righteousness is held by such (viz. higher) 
Calvinists in a proper sense. "{ 

Again, after stating what he considers Calvin's idea 
of the subject, he says: "AH this we grant is capable 
of being interpreted to a good and scriptural sense," 
&c.§ 

Although we might greatly multiply our authori- 
ties, the fourth and last shall be the collection of 
Hymns in use in the Methodist Episcopal Church at 
the time of the division. 

Thus in hymn 26, the penitent, in an address to 
the Saviour, is made to say: 

"Thou wilt not break a bruised reed, 

Or quench the smallest spark of grace; 
Till through the soul, thy power is spread, 
Thy all victorious righteousness." 

Again, in hymn 33 : 

" Where is the blessedness bestowed, 
On all that hunger after thee? 
I hunger now, I thirst for God ; 

See the poor fainting sinner, see ; 
And satisfy with endless peace; 
And fill me with thy righteousness." 



* Watson's Life of Wesley, pp. 76, 77. 

f Theological Dictionary. Term, "Righteousness." 

J Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxiii. \ Ibid. 



360 IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

See also in hymn 41 : 

"Never shall I want it less, 

When thou the gift hast given ; 
Filled me with thy righteousness 
And sealed me heir of heaven." 

Also, in hymn 468 : 

"Jesus, the name high over all 

In hell, or earth, or sky, 

Angels and men before it fall, 

And devils fear and fly. 

"His only righteousness I show, 
His loving truth proclaim ; 
'Tis all my business here below 
To cry 'behold the Lamb !' " 

Again, in hymn 63: 

"Cast out thy foes, and let them still, 
To Jesus' name submit, 
Clothe with thy righteousness, and heal 
And place me at thy feet." 

The connection of all these quotations shows, that 
whenever the word " righteousness" is used, it means 
the righteousness of Christ. More might be added, 
but this is enough to show the doctrine of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church. 

We will next show that this teaching is in exact 
accordance with the Scripture. 

Thus the Lord, foretelling the coming of the Mes- 
siah, said, " Seventy weeks are established . . to fin- 
ish the transgression, and make an end of sin, and 
bring in everlasting righteousness," Dan. ix. 24. The 
prophet Jeremiah, speaking of the same subject says, 
" And this is the name by which he shall be called, 
the Lord our righteousness." If then, the coming of 
Christ was " the bringing in of everlasting righteous- 
ness," and he is the righteousness of his people, his 
righteousness must be imputed to them. That it is 
so, is evident from other passages. Isaiah referring 



IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 361 

to Christ says, "In the Lord have I righteousness," 
Isa. xxiv. 25. But what righteousness ? Not his 
own, for a we are all as an unclean thing, and all 
our righteousnesses are as filthy .rags," Isa. xiv. 6. 
Evidently then, as believers are spiritually the 
"members of Christ's body," Eph. v. 30, they obtain 
a righteousness by having his righteousness set down 
to them. As an arm of Washington, though diseased 
and broken,, would be honoured, on account of that 
body of which it was a member; so will our heavenly 
Father treat the members of the body of his Son. 
For if in the words of Malachi, " he is the Sun of 
righteousness," Mai. iv. 2, he must have a righteous- 
ness. And if in the words of Jeremiah, he is " the 
Lord our righteousness," his righteousness must be 
imputed to us. 

Although the doctrine of imputation is objected to, 
(as we shall see after a while) we will here remark 
that in practice it is acted on all over the world. Who 
does not know that the iniquities of parents are impu- 
ted to their children, sometimes to the third and 
fourth generations? Where could the man be found, 
who would feel disposed to honour a son of Benedict 
Arnold ? But where could the man be found, who, 
if it were possible, would not go out of his way, to 
honour a son of George Washington ? Where is the 
Arminian who would not delight to show kindness to 
a child of Wesley ? And where is the Calvinist who 
would not delight to show kindness to a child of Cal- 
vin ? When Caesar was at war with the Helvetians, 
he pardoned the leader of a revolt for the sake of a 
brother of the culprit, who was a gallant officer in the 
Roman army. When General Scott passed sentence 
of death on seventy traitors in Mexico, he pardoned 
a father guilty of the same crime, for the sake of a 
gallant son, who had several times planted his coun- 
try's flag on the ramparts of the enemy. In such a 
case a pardon is more satisfactory to justice than an 



362 IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

execution. In such a case the stern righteousness of 
the law even, gives way before the righteousness of 
the individual. 

Now this same dpctrine so universal among men, is 
as common in the Scriptures. God would not have 
destroyed Sodom if there had been ten righteous per- 
sons therein, " for the ten's sake." Gen. xviii. 32. 
Although Solomon "did not keep God's covenant, nor 
his statutes, the Lord would not rend the kingdom 
from him, for David, his father's sake." 1 Kings xi. 
12. Although a Hebrew was " an abomination to 
an Egyptian," Gen. xliii. 32, for the righteousness 
of Joseph, Jacob and his family met with peculiar 
favour, and peculiar honour in Egypt. Now if such 
things occur in the kingdoms of this world, on account 
of the imperfect righteousness of men, much more 
may they occur in the kingdom of God on account of 
the perfect righteousness of Christ. 

But how, it may be asked, are the benefits of 
Christ's righteousness to be obtained ? We answer, 
by faith — " Justification by faith in the imputed 
righteousness of Christ." Although neither Jacob 
nor his children had any claim upon Pharaoh, they 
went down into Egypt relying on the righteousness of 
Joseph. So also must the sinner go to God for par- 
don and salvation, in reliance on the righteousness of 
Christ. For as Pharaoh showed favour to the brethren 
of Joseph, for Joseph's sake, since God the Father 
loves the Son, he will show favour to the "brethren" 
of his Son, for his Son's sake. And as Joseph was 
not ashamed to tell Pharaoh of his father and breth- 
ren, though they were despised Assyrians, since 
Christ, " who sanctifieth, and they that are sanctified 
are all one," he will "not be ashamed to call them 
brethren," Heb. ii. 11, though they are redeemed 
and pardoned sinners. This whole doctrine is most 
beautifully and forcibly expressed in hymn 298 of 
the Methodist Collection. 



IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 363 

" Jesus, thy blood and righteousness, 
My beauty are, my glorious dress ; 
Midst flaming "worlds, in these arrayed, 
With joy shall I lift up my head. 

" Bold shall I stand in that great day, 

For who aught to my charge shall lay ? 
Fully absolved through these I am, 

From sin and fear, and guilt and shame." 

But notwithstanding " sinners are accounted right- 
eous by the obedience of Christ," and "God pardons 
the sins of believers and reckons them as righteous 
as if they had perfectly fulfilled the law;" and not- 
withstanding the "believer is invested or clothed with 
the righteousness of Christ," so that "by imputation 
it is his," we are told that the believer is not justified 
so as to be accounted righteous in the sight of God 
through the imputed righteousness of Christ: but 
that the "plain Scriptural notion of justification is 
pardon, the forgiveness of sins;"* that this "view 
is amply supported by several passages of Scripture, 
in which the terms pardon, forgiveness, and remission 
of sins, are used convertibly with the term justifica- 
tion ;"f that "justification, pardon, and forgiveness, 
as they are used in the Scriptures, obviously mean 
one and the same thing ;"{ and that "justification 
in the sense of the forgiveness of sins is the only 
import of the terms. "§ 

To this we reply, that as the sinner never receives 
pardon from God, without being justified by the im- 
puted righteousness of Christ, the term pardon is 
frequently used, or referred to in the Scriptures, in 
connection with justification: but to say they are con- 
vertible terms, mean the same thing, and that "justi- 
fication in the sense of the forgiveness of sins, is the 
only import of the term," is about as great an abuse 

* Wesley's Sermon on Justification by Faith, 
f Watson's Life of Wesley, page 147. 
% Bakewell's Counsels, page 16, Chap. 23. 
| Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxiii. 



364 IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

of langnage and of the Scriptures, as could well be 
made. The word justify is a legal term, the opposite 
of condemn; both of which are intended to state a 
fact. As for example, when it appears in evidence 
that a man under charge of murder, acted in necessary 
self-defence, he is said to be justified. When again 
it appears in evidence that another has been guilty of 
unprovoked, wilful and deliberate murder, he is con- 
demned. Now the court in pronouncing the justifica- 
tion of the one, does not make him innocent, but 
simply states a fact, viz. that he is innocent. And 
in pronouncing the guilt and condemnation of the 
other, it does not make him guilty, but simply states 
a fact, viz. that he is guilty. That these terms are 
used in this sense in the Scriptures, will appear from 
a few examples. Deut. xxv. 1: "If there be a con- 
troversy between men, and they come unto judgment, 
that the judges may judge between them, then they 
shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked." 
Here the judges are directed to declare the facts of 
the case, viz. that the conduct of the righteous was 
conformable to law, and the conduct of the wicked a 
violation thereof. 

1 Kings viii. 31, 32 : " If any man trespass against 
his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause 
him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in 
this house ; then hear thou in heaven, and do, and 
judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring 
his way upon his head; and justifying the right- 
eous." 

In the former of these cases, the judges were di- 
rected to declare, that the conduct of the righteous 
was conformable to law, and the conduct of the wicked 
in violation of it. And in the latter, the Lord was 
requested to do the same thing, but in neither case 
would the declaration change the character of those 
concerned. 

We will next adduce a few passages in which one 



IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 365 

or both of these terms are used. Matt. xii. 36, 37, 
" But I say unto you that every idle word that men 
shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day 
of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justi- 
fied, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." 
Luke vii. 29, "And all the people that heard Christ, 
justified God," &c. Gal. ii. 16, "Knowing that a 
man is not justified by the works of the law, but by 
the faith of Jesus Christ." James ii. 21, "Was not 
Abraham our father justified by works when he of- 
fered up Isaac his son," &c. &c. 

Let us now give to "justification" the meaning 
contended for, and we will have the judges directed 
to "pardon" the righteous, and God requested to do 
the same. Again, we will have it stated in the Bible, 
that men will be pardoned in the day of judgment for 
words not spoken amiss — that "all the people par- 
doned, God," and that "Abraham was pardoned by 
works." And yet we are told, that "justification is 
a sentence of pardon;" "is the pardon of sin;" "the 
pardon of sin by the judicial sentence of the majesty 
of heaven under a gracious constitution" — that "justi- 
fication in the sense of forgiveness of sins, is the only 
import of the term;"* that "pardon, remission, and 
forgiveness of sins are used convertibly with the term 
justification;" and that "the plain scriptural notion 
of justification is pardon, the forgiveness of sins." 
According to these divines, therefore, a man who after 
being condemned ten years to hard labour in a state 
prison, for arson, theft, or forgery, &c, on being par- 
doned by the governor, after he has worked out five 
years, is justified for his crime — that is, the pardon 
justifies the offence. Why, Mr. Wesley even yields 
the point. Thus commenting on Bom. viii. 30 — 
"Whom he called, them he also justified;" he says, 
"It is generally allowed that the word 'justified/ is 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xxiii. 

31* 



366 IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

here taken in a peculiar sense, that it means, he made 
them righteous."* 

But again says Mr. Wesley, (and his statement is 
endorsed by the General Conference,) " the righteous- 
ness of Christ is an expression I do not find in the 
Bible."t 

Here the reader will be ready to inquire, Is it pos- 
sible that he who said, " there is no justifying faith 
which hath not the righteousness of Christ for its ob- 
ject;" that "the righteousness of Christ is the whole 
and sole foundation of all our hope," &c; and that 
the Conference, who unite in an address to Christ, and 
sing, 

" Clothe'Vith thy righteousness and heal, 
And place me at thy feet." 

"Jesus, thy blood and righteousness, 
My beauty are, my glorious dress," &c. 

are the persons who now say, " the righteousness of 
Christ is an expression they do not find in the 
Bible?" 

But let us see whether, after all, this expression or 
a full equivalent, is not found in the Bible. David, 
speaking of Christ, says prophetically, "A seed shall 
serve him ; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a 
generation. They shall come and declare his right- 
eousness." Ps. xxii. 30, 31. 

" Shall declare his righteousness." Whose right- 
eousness? Why the righteousness of Christ. Bom. 
v. 18, " Therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment 
came upon all men to condemnation, even so, by the 
righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men 
to justification of life." Mr. Wesley and the General 
Conference commenting on this passage, say, " When 
St. Paul says, ' by the righteousness of one . . . the 

* Sermon on Predestination. f Doctrinal Tracts, p. 205. 



IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 367 

free gift came,' &c, does he not mean the righteous- 
ness of Christ? Undoubtedly he does. But this is 
not the question. We are not inquiring about what 
he means, but what he says."* 

Here then, it is admitted, that when Paul says, 
"by the righteousness of one," he means "the right- 
eousness of Christ." But they continue, "If by the 
righteousness of Christ we mean anything which the 
Scriptures do not mean, it is certain we put darkness 
for light. If we mean the same which the Scripture 
means by different expressions, why do we prefer this 
expression to the scriptural? Is not this correcting 
the wisdom of the Holy Ghost, and opposing our own 
to the perfect knowledge of God."f 

So then, we are to have nothing but chapter and 
verse, and not to express Scripture teaching, in any 
other than Scripture language. But why do not 
these divines set the example, and practise what they 
preach? Ye who teach others, teach ye not your- 
selves? Ye who say, others should not use any but 
Scripture language, do ye use no other ? For the 
term " righteousness of Christ," is freely used among 
you. 

But further, the expression objected to, is a Scrip- 
ture expression. Thus 2 Peter i. 1: "To them that 
have obtained- like precious faith with us, through 
the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus 
Christ." 

In the original it reads thus : " Through the right- 
eousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ." 

Does the reader wish to see how Mr. Wesley and 
the General Conference get around this passage ? 
He has seen how they garble the Confession of 
Faith, he shall now see how they garble the Scrip- 
tures also. But hear them : "The righteousness of 
Christ is an expression I do not find in the Bible. 

* Doctrinal Tracts, page 208. f Ibid. 



368 IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

The righteousness of God is an expression I do find 
there. I believe this means first, the mercy of God, 
as 2 Peter 1 : " Them that have obtained like pre- 
cious faith with us through the righteousness of 
God."* 

Here, they so break off the sentence, as to leave 
out the very expression which they say they "do not 
find in the Bible." And " is not this correcting 
the wisdom of the Holy Ghost, and opposing their 
own to the perfect wisdom of God ?" How Mr. Wes- 
ley and the General Conference are to escape the 
charge of "handling the word of God deceitfully," 
2 Cor. iv. 2, is not for us to say. If they had made 
the Scriptures, these " sacred oracles" would no 
doubt have been very different in many places. We 
are reminded of a man who not long since was object- 
ing very much to some of the doctrines which he said 
were contained in the Presbyterian Confession of 
Faith. On being asked if he had read that book, he 
gave a negative answer. It was then presented to 
him on condition that he would read it. Some time 
after, the donor met him and inquired whether he 
had read the book, and how he liked it ? In reply 
he said, " he had read it; that with the large print," 
(meaning the Confession,) " he got along very well, 
but that the little print below," (meaning the Scrip- 
tures referred to in proof of the Confession,) "was 
the very devil." And truly, it would puzzle any one 
to explain how he can swallow the references, yet 
choke at the Confession. 

But to return. Mr. Wesley and the General Con- 
ference tell us " they are the more sparing in the 
use of this expression, viz. the righteousness of Christ, 
because it has been so frequently and dreadfully 
abused; and because the Antinomians used it to 
justify the grossest abominations." And they ask, 

* Doctrinal Tracts, page 205. 



IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 369 

" doth not this way of speaking naturally tend to 
make Christ the minister of sin ?"* 

In reply to this, we say, it is admitted that when 
Paul speaks of the "righteousness of one," he means 
the righteousness of Christ. f 

2. We have shown that "the righteousness of 
Christ" is a Scripture expression. Since then this 
phrase " expresses the meaning of the Scripture, and 
is itself a Scripture expression, if Arminians will 
inform us of another that will better accord with the 
" wisdom of the Holy Ghost," and more conform our 
own knowledge " to the perfect knowledge of God," 
and thus be less liable to Antinomian abuse, we may 
consider the propriety of using it. Till then we will 
not hesitate to use the inspired language of the Apos- 
tle Peter, in preference to the uninspired language of 
Mr. Wesley, and especially since Mr. Wesley does 
not hesitate to use it himself. 

Having disposed of what is said against the use of 
the phrase "the righteousness of Christ," we will 
notice what is said against the phrase, " the imputed 
righteousness of Christ." Mr. Wesley, in a letter to 
the Rev. James Hervey, says, "For Christ's sake, 
and for the sake of immortal souls which he has pur- 
chased with his blood, do not dispute for that particu- 
lar phrase, the 'imputed righteousness of Christ.' It 
is not scriptural, it is not necessary." Again he 
asks, " Where is the need, where is the use of con- 
tending so strenuously, for ,the imputaion of his 
righteousness ? The nice metaphysical doctrine of 
imputed righteousness leads not to repentance but to 
licentiousness." 

And is this from the man who elsewhere says, " 
ye fools ! when will ye understand that the preaching 
of justification by faith alone ; the allowing of no 
meritorious cause of justification but the death and 

* Doctrinal Tracts, page 209. f Ibid, page 208. 



370 IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

righteousness of Christ ; and no condition or instru- 
mental cause but faith, is overturning Popery from 
the foundation?" Is it from the same man who says, 
" the righteousness of Christ is imputed to every 
one that believes, as soon as he believes?" that he 
"always did, and does still continually affirm that the 
righteousness of Christ is imputed to every believer?" 
that although "all Infidels," "all Socinians, Arians 
and members of the Church of Rome deny it," " we 
(Methodists) are not among those who are so dark in 
their conceptions and expressions. We no more deny 
the phrase than the thing." To this we can give no 
other reply than that the man who wrote the former, 
wrote the latter also. 

We will next hear a statement from him, in which 
the General Conference unite. " We are all agreed," 
says he, "as to the meaning, but not as to the expres- 
sion, ' the imputed righteousness of Christ,' which 
I still say, I dare not insist upon, neither require 
any one to use, because I cannot find it in the Bible." 
" If the very personal obedience of Christ be mine 
the moment I believe, can anything be added thereto? 
Does my obeying God add any value to the perfect 
obedience of Christ ? On this scheme, then, are not 
the holy and unholy on the very same footing ?"* 

And are these the divines, who in arranging hymns 
to be sung in the churches say, in addressing the 
Saviour: 

"Jesus, thy blood and righteousness, 
My beauty are, my glorious dress ; 
'Midst flaming worlds in these arrayed, 
With joy shall I lift up my head. 

Bold shall I stand in that great day, 
For who aught to my charge shall lay? 

Fully absolved through these I am, 

From sin and fear, and guilt and shame." 

/■ 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pages, 208, 209. 



IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 371 

To which we may add two other verses of the same 
hymn, as it came from Mr. Wesley, but which the 
General Conference have omitted, viz. 

"This spotless robe the same appears, 
When ruined nature sinks in years ; 
No age can change its glorious hue, 
The robe of Christ is ever new. 

let the dead now hear thy voice, 
Bid, Lord, thy banished ones rejoice; 

Their beauty this, their glorious dress, 
Jesus the Lord our righteousness." 

In reference to these stanzas, we will only say, if 
they do not teach that a believer is justified by the 
imputed righteousness of Christ, it would be difficult 
to find language that did. Although then, the Me- 
thodist Church objects to the doctrine in their Doc- 
trinal Tracts, as they teach it so distinctly in their 
Hymn-book, the objection has no weight with them- 
selves, and cannot be expected to have greater weight 
with others. 

As to the charge, that both the phrase and the 
doctrine taught by the phrase, "lead to impenitence 
and licentiousness," we remark, that if, in the face of 
the clear and explicit statements, (" as many as are 
led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God," Rom. 
viii. 14, "and by their fruits ye shall know them,") 
any one supposes that by being "born of the Spirit," 
he imbibes a love for sin, and that for it he finds a 
cloak in the imputed righteousness of Christ, there is 
not -a doctrine in the Bible* he would not pervert. 
He who "is born of God" partakes of the holy nature 
of God, consequently, he must feel an aversion to sin. 
And although he "finds a law in his members warring 
against the law of his mind, and bringing him into 
captivity to the law of sin which is in his members," 
with Paul he cries out, " wretched man that I am ! 
who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" 
That faith in Christ which does not lead to holiness 



372 IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

of life is a dead faith. Hence we say, with Mr. Wes- 
ley, "God implants righteousness in every one to 
whom he imputes it, and sanctifies as well as justi- 
fies all that believe."* 

When travellers get lost, they are apt to travel in 
all directions, and of course, are sometimes in the 
right one. While a theological writer sticks to Cal- 
vinism, he steers a straight course, as has been shown; 
but when he leaves that, he wanders about through a 
dense fog, until he gets back again. Having seen 
the winding course of a ship when guided under an 
Arminian chart, it is gratifying to see it return to the 
point, by departing from which it began to err. 
Take the following from the Christian Advocate and 
Journal, the great organ of the Methodist Church 
North, of Feb. 9, 1854. 

" Pardon — Justification. — Are these words syno- 
nymous? that is, do they each convey the same idea? 
Can they be used interchangeably without impairing 
correct statements of gospel truth? Do they each 
equally express the action of the Deity in the case of 
a repenting sinner ? 

"An answer to either of these questions would go 
far to relieve uncertainty as to the others; and we 
might, it is true, summarily dispose of the first by an 
appeal to the dictionaries. But are these satisfying 
authorities? We all know how common it is for dic- 
tionaries to expound one word by rehearsing several 
similar ones, and then, when we seek for the import 
of one or more of these similar words, we find again 
the same words repeated, with the addition, it may 
be, of the one first explained ! so that all similar 
words thus appear to be synonymous, when, strictly 
speaking, we have no synonyms. 

"But may not a single and thus more direct question 
be substituted for all the above, the answer to which 

* Sermon on Imputed Righteousness. 



IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 373 

will present all that is important for us to know on this 
subject, viz. Do the sacred penmen use these words 
interchangeably ? I think not. At least the New 
Testament writers do not, for one of these words, viz. 
pardon, is not found on its pages. This is a most 
significant fact, only to be accounted for, it would 
seem, on the supposition that our translators did not 
find its equivalent in the Greek, and knew that the 
idea which it conveys would not be a correct one in 
the premises. What is this idea? What legitimate 
impression does this word make when it is used? 
Does it not properly convey one idea alone? If, for 
instance, we hear one say, ' I beg pardon,' do we not 
at once conceive of some wrong committed of which 
this phrase is at once a confession and a petition for 
prerogative exemption from just consequences ? Again, 
when it is said, 'The governor has pardoned him,' 
do we not receive the single idea of a sentenced crimi- 
nal remaining guilty, though released by executive 
prerogative from the penalty pronounced by the 
judge? Or, do these words convey the twofold idea 
of a liberated felon at once released from both the 
penalty and guilt of his crime, and transformed by 
this act of pardon into a free and justified citizen? 
Or, is the governor ever said to justify a criminal? If 
not, then this word pardon cannot be used inter- 
changeably with the gospel term ''justification.'' It 
would not be a correct one in the premises, and hence 
is not used at all in the New Testament, either by its 
inspired writers or by our translators. 

" How, then, has this word obtained such universal 
currency among orthodox Christians — a currency 
which has substituted it in popular use to the almost 
entire exclusion of the other, when this other is so 
frequently used by our Lord and his apostles ? Why, 
why is this ? Can it be thought that this common- 
place term is so much better than our nervous old 
Anglo-Saxon word 'forgiveness,' or the equally strong 
32 



374 IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

ones derived from the Latin, ' remission' and 'justi- 
fication ?' Good taste forbid ! But the objection is 
not only, or even mainly, to the bad taste of this sub- 
stitution. There >are other and far stronger objec- 
tions. Have we, for instance, the right thus to sub- 
stitute a word so utterly unscriptural, that it is not to 
be found in the New Testament, for those by which 
the Holy Ghost has seen fit to express his truth — 
especially in view of that solemn injunction, ' If 
any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God?' 
Again : Glaring as seems this impropriety, it becomes 
not only objectionable, but sinfully dangerous when 
this word, thus unjustifiably substituted brings with 
it such a modification of gospel truth, as amounts to 
a popular perversion of the very doctrine of justifica- 
tion by faith, with all its associated blessings ! 

"If, as we have seen above, 'pardon' is an absolute 
prerogative act by which the executive power authori- 
tatively exempts a sentenced criminal (by arresting 
the exection of the law) from the penalty which it 
has pronounced, and without even pretending to jus- 
tify him, the sinner, in this case, so far from being 
justified by faith, is not justified at all! and of course 
cannot 'have peace with God,' 'access to him,' nor 
any consistent rejoicing 'in hope of his glory.' In 
mercy's name let us return to 4 the words which the 
Holy Ghost teacheth.' 

"And, again, this doctrine of ' pardon involves us 
in a most ridiculous absurdity ; for if it is descriptive 
of a prerogative act, which, in the given case, frees 
the guilty by simply arresting the execution of sen- 
tence, the sentence, of course, must be pronounced 
before it can be arrested; and shall we, who so 
strongly contend that this is a state of probation — 
that 'sentence is not executed against an evil work,' 
— that even the judgment itself is suspended until all 
earthly acts, and actors, and their earthly conse- 
quences shall be arrested by the end of earth — com- 



IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 375 

mit the egregious folly of stultifying our own teach- 
ings, by substituting for the plain words of Christ and 
his Apostles a word which is not only never used by 
them, but which exhibits the gross absurdity of repre- 
senting the Almighty as pardoning the sinner not 
only before sentence, but even in advance of trial, 
yea, even before the court is in session, before which 
alone he can be tried — in fact, before he is arrested 
or even indicted, and that, too, in the very teeth of 
the public proclamation of the Judge himself, even 
our Lord Jesus Christ, that 'the Father judgeth no 
man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son?' 
And shall we commit this absurd folly? We! For- 
bid it common-sense! 

" But does not the Bible say, 'The sinner is con- 
demned already ?' No, no! the Bible uses no such 
word. Christ, indeed, said to Nicodemus, ' He that 
believeth not is condemned already;' but he prefaced 
it by declaring, ' He that believeth is not condemned ;' 
and of neither did he say he was sentenced, so that 
neither was properly a subject of pardon: and even 
if he had said that the entire race were both con- 
demned and sentenced, a general act of executive 
pardon would not, could not justify them; and 'jus- 
tification by faith' is the doctrine of the gospel, and 
not pardon by prerogative, nor yet pardon on condi- 
tion of faith. But, again, the question is not about 
the state of either the unbeliever or the guilty sinner — 
far less about a sentenced one — but about a justified 
believer ; one whose ' faith is counted to him for 
righteousness,' as a full equivalent, supplying the lack 
in all previous omission; one who, while his faith 
is thus counted to him, has his sins taken away from 
him — borne 'into the land of forgetfulness' — by the 
Lamb of God, 'who was manifested to take away our 
sins.' For whether the words rendered, 'takeaway,' 
'forgiveness,' or 'omission,' be acpco, d(pl'fjfj.c,d(peo'c^,oY 
n&fjsocZ) the idea is always ' dissociation, separation, 



376 IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

removal ;' so that believers in Christ Jesus stand 
before God and his universe, not as pardoned felons, 
guilty, though released, but as guiltless sinners ! 
whose sins are ' removed from them as far as the east 
is from the west,' and who may exclaim in triumph with 
Paul, 'Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's 
elect?' Christ hath died, and God hath justified us, 
and 'there is therefore, now no condemnation to 
them who are in Christ Jesus ;' for they that believe 
are justified from all things. 

"And shall we — what! all of us, Methodists, Bap- 
tists, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists, the sons 
of Luther, Calvin, Knox, and Wesley — who battled 
the world, the devil, and the pope, in arms for that 
watchword of the gospel and the Reformation — 'jus- 
tification by faith' — quietly suffer them to steal from 
us what they could not force away by fire, and steel, 
and cord, and slily to slip into our Church-language 
from both tongue and pen this flippant French phrase, 
which, so far from containing the true idea of satis- 
faction for sin, and deliverance from it, which the 
other — the gospel word alone — so fully embodies, 
actually conveys no idea of an atonement, but simply 
represents a prerogative act of executive power, which 
may or may not be unjust in its exercise, capricious 
in its motives, unworthy in its subjects, and but nega- 
tive at best in its benefits, as it merely arrests the 
execution of a sentence, without restoring to the 
guilty (whom it only frees from punishment) either 
the esteem or social privileges of society? Forbid 
it, respect for the martyrs of the Reformation, 

"Is this the position of a child of God? Is this 
his standing among 'an innumerable company of 
angels' in 'the general assembly and Church of the 
first-born, and the spirits of just men made perfect/ 
to whom Paul declares the believer has already come? 
Is this pardoned, yet still guilty felon, with all his 
sins attached, because unjustified, 'a fellow citizen 



IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 377 

with the saints ?' 0, how this word felon lowers the 
child of God — this joint heir with Christ, by robbing 
him of this precious benefit of his vicarious death ! 

" This word pardon may indeed satisfy the entire 
genus of Unitarians; nay, it is the very word of 
words for the Universalist, whose entire system is at 
open war with the doctrine of vicarious satisfaction 
for sin — without which the concomitant doctrine of 
justification by faith is absurd. But for us to use it 
in the place of either 'remission,' ' forgiveness,' or 
'justification,' is at once a falsification of Scripture 
language and a perversion of gospel truth — at once 
the giving up without a challenge — without even a 
conceivable motive, of all that St. Paul has so earn- 
estly contended for in the Epistles to the Romans 
and Galatians, and leaving these mistaken ones, 
without warning them against this fallacy, to con- 
ceive of, and trust in a hope engendered by the 
use of a word of which the gospel is alike igno- 
rant and devoid. When, on the contrary, as the 
gospel idea of 'justification by faith' is absolutely 
dependent on full satisfaction being rendered on 
behalf of the party so justified — we might, by an 
unvarying and unmodified declaration of this doctrine 
lead them to true 'repentance toward God and faith 
in the Lord Jesus Christ,' confidently assuring them 
that God will thus 'for-give (that is, not give) ' them 
their sins' — but the ' re-mission (that is, the sending 
away) ' of their sins' — ' justifying them freely by his 
grace, through the redemption* that is in Christ Jesus; 
whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through 
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the 
remission of sins that are past.' J. W. 

Rockaway." 



32 ; 



378 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION, ETC. 



In the present chapter we will notice briefly, the 
various degrees of holiness, to which, according to 
Arminians, a believer may attain in the present life. 
We say " various" degrees. For although each de- 
gree is laid down as undoubtedly true, and three 
of them, as each, exclusively true, they are so nume- 
rous, that taken together, they will be found to make 
a four-sided figure. 

The first attainment contended for, is, entire free- 
dom from actual sin. This, it is argued, must neces- 
sarily, and at once, be attained by all Christians. 

Thus say Mr. Wesley and the General Conference, 
"In conformity both to the doctrine of St. John, and 
the whole tenor of the New Testament, we fix this 
conclusion — a Christian is so far perfect as not to 
commit sin. This is the glorious privilege of every 
Christian ; yea, though he be but a babe. But it is 
only of grown Christians it can be affirmed, they are 
in such a sense perfect as to be freed from evil 
desires."* 

If then, " Christians, even babes in Christ are so 
far perfect as not to commit sin," he who sins, is not 
a Christian. Accordingly, " all wilful sin was held," 
by the first Annual Conference in England, "to imply 
a casting away of vital faith, and thereby to bring a 
man under wrath and condemnation," so that "it is 
not possible for him to have justifying faith again 
without previously repenting."f "All who married 
unbelievers were to be expelled from (the) society."t 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 294, 296. 

f Watson's Life of Wesley, page 148. % Ibid, page 174. 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 379 

It was " expected of all who continued therein, that 
they should evidence their desire of salvation ('from 
their sins') by avoiding evil of every kind, and among 
the evils named, was 'the putting on of gold, or costly 
apparel.' "* "The assistants were to give no band- 
ticket to any man or woman, who did not promise to 
leave off needless ornaments, drams, snuff and to- 
bacco, "f "Helpers" were required at their induction 
into office to answer in the negative the question, 
"Do you take snuff, tobacco, drams ?"{ The General 
Conference in this country, also urge " all who are 
aiming at Christian perfection to resolve that none of 
their happiness shall consist in eating and drinking, 
or in any of the pleasures of sense. "§ And "to 
guard those who are saved from sin, from every occa- 
sion of stumbling," they urge them to " admit no desire 
of pleasing food, or any other pleasure of sense : no de- 
sire of pleasing the eye or the imagination, by anything 
grand, or new, or beautiful: no desire of money, of 
praise, or esteem; of happiness in any creature. "|| 
Mr. Wesley lays it down as certain, that "a man 
cannot have any religion who does to others what he 
would not they should do to him, if he were in the 
same circumstances. "Tf 

The General Conference also, in the " Directions 
given to the Band Societies," say, "You are sup- 
posed to have the faith that overcometh the world. — 
To you, therefore, it is not grievous, 

"5. To wear no needless ornaments, such as rings, 
ear-rings, necklaces, lace or ruffles."** 

Again, we have the following rule in reference to 
dress : 

" Question. Should we insist on the rules concern- 
ing dress ? 

* Whitehead's Life of Wesley, page 100. 

f Ibid, page 204. % Ibid, page 207. 

\ Christian's Manual, page 132. || Doctrinal Tracts, p. 358. 

% Sermon on "The Way to the Kingdom." 

** Discipline, Sec. iii. 



380 ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

" Answer, By all means. This is no time to give 
any encouragement to superfluity of apparel. There- 
fore give no tickets to any, till they have left off su- 
perfluous ornaments. In order to this, 1. Let every 
one who has the charge of a circuit, read the thoughts 
upon dress, at least once a year, in every large so- 
ciety. 2. In visiting the classes, be very mild, but 
very strict. 3. Allow of no exempt cases; better 
one suffer than many. 4. Give no tickets to any 
that wear high heads, enormous bonnets, ruffles, or 
rings."* 

In reference to " Marriage," the General Confer- 
ence says : 

"Question. 1. Do we observe any evil which has 
prevailed in our Church with respect to marriage ? 

"Answer. Many of our members have married 
with unawakened persons. This has produced bad 
effects. They have been either hindered for life, or 
have turned back to perdition. 

" Q. 2. What can be done to discourage this? 

"A. 1. Let every preacher publicly enforce the 
Apostle's caution, 'Be ye not unequally yoked to- 
gether with unbelievers.' 2 Cor. vi. 14. 

" 2. Let him declare, whosoever does this will be 
put back on trial for six months." 

" We do not prohibit our people from marrying 
persons who are not of our Church, provided such 
persons have the form, and are seeking the power of 
godliness; but we are determined to discourage their 
marrying persons who do not come up to this descrip- 
tion. Even in a doubtful case, the member shall be 
put back on trial."f In the edition of the Discipline 
just before the division of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, the penalty of being put back is not men- 
tioned, but the prohibition is unchanged. 

On all this we have several remarks to make. And, 

* Discipline, Sec. iv. f Ibid. Sec. v. 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 381 

1. Our Saviour taught his disciples to pray, "For- 
give us our sins." Luke xi. 4. He then who " is so 
far perfect, as not to commit sin," has got ahead of 
the disciples of Christ. The publican might pray, 
" God be merciful to me a sinner," Luke xviii. 13, but 
this man can pray, " God, I thank thee, that I am not 
as other men." Luke xviii. 11. 

2. If " a man cannot have any religion who does 
to others what he would not they should do to him, if 
he were in the same circumstances," what becomes of 
Messrs. Wesley, Watson, Fisk, and Arminian writers 
generally? Will it be pretended, that in misquoting, 
garbling, forging, misrepresenting and slandering, as 
we have seen, they have not violated the rule? 

3. If " all wilful sin implies a casting away of vital 
faith," and " marrying an unbeliever," "putting on 
gold, or costly apparel," "using snuff or tobacco," 
" admitting a desire of any pleasure of sense," is 
a wilful sin, what becomes of half the preachers and 
half the members of the Methodist Church? 

" In the Baltimore Methodist Conference, the other 
day, Rev. R. Cadden stated that two hundred preach- 
ers of that body chewed tobacco, and one hundred 
smoked cigars, all of them expending $6000, which 
he said would support two missionaries in China."* 

4. If we are to "admit no desire of pleasing food," 
he who desires pleasant food in preference to other, 
simply because it is more pleasant, though not more 
wholesome, must, without repentance, go to hell. 
The same is true of the man who plants flowers with 
a desire to see them, or desires to see the Natural 
Bridge, the Falls of Niagara, &c. 

5. That such instructions should have been laid 
down for monks and hermits, would not be surprising; 
but he who "admits no desire of any pleasure of 
sense, of pleasing the eye or the imagination, by any- 
thing grand or beautiful; no desire of money, of 

* New York Observer, April 12, 1855. 



382 ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

praise, or esteem, or of happiness in any creature," 
is not fit to live, either on earth, or in heaven.* 
Why were grand and beautiful objects made, pleasant 
food, &c, and why were our senses given, but to enjoy 
these bounties of Providence ? Does the reader say, 
" Well ! all this, except that about drams, snuff, and 
tobacco, is too bad; is there no contradiction?" 
There is now before us a book with the title of " Me- 
thodism in Earnest," "being the history of a great 
revival in Great Britain, in which ten thousand pro- 
fessed sanctification in about six years, in connection 
with the labours of the Rev. James Caughey." Mr. 
Caughey, writing to a friend, from Canada, in July 
1841, says, "As you intend to visit Quebec, you must 
not fail to see the Falls of Montmorency, only a few 

miles from the city I know you love the 

grand and beautiful in nature, and I am sure you will 
retire from it, saying, with your friend, 

"My full heart expanded, grew warm, and adored."f 

Must not fail to see the Falls of Montmorency, &c. 
What! a Methodist urged to "see the falls of Mont- 
morency," by the most successful promoter of entire 
sanctification, of modern times! and that, too, not- 
withstanding the General Conference, "to guard 
those who have attained it from every occasion of 
stumbling," urge them to "admit no desire of 
pleasing the eye by anything grand or beautiful!" 
Is there not an inconsistency here? 

But again, we have already seen that "a Christian 
is so far perfect as not to commit sin;" that "this 
is the glorious privilege of every Christian, though he 
be but a babe in Christ. But, that it is only of grown 
Christians, it can be affirmed they are in such a sense 
perfect, as to be free from evil desires." But 

" Quest. When does inward sanctification begin ? 

* See Rev. xiv. 3, 4; xxi. 10—21; vii. 13. 
f Methodism in Earnest, pp. 88, 89. 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 383 

" Ans. In the moment a man is justified (yet 
sin remains in him, yea the seed of all sin, till he is 
sanctified throughout.) From that time a believer 
gradually dies to sin and grows in grace. 

" Q. Is this ordinarily given till a little before 
death ? 

"A. It is not to those who expect it no sooner. 

" Q. But may we expect it sooner ? 

" A. Why not ? For although we grant (1) That 
the generality of believers whom we have hitherto 
known, were not sanctified till a little before death; 
(2.) That few of those to whom St. Paul wrote his 
Epistles, were so at that time; nor he himself at the 
time he wrote his former Epistles; yet all this does 
not prove that we may not be so to-day."* "God 
may, with man's good leave, cut short the work, in 
whatever degree he pleases, and do the work of 
many years in a moment. He does so in many in- 
stances, f 

" Q. How much is allowed by our brethren who 
differ from us? 

" A. They grant (1.) That every one must be 
entirely sanctified in the article of death. (2.) That 
till then, a believer daily grows in grace, and comes 
nearer and nearer to perfection. (3) That we ought 
to be continually pressing after it, and to exhort all 
others so to do. 

" Q. What do we allow them ? 

"A. We grant (1.) That many of those who have 
died in the faith, yea, the greater part of those we 
have known, were not perfected in love till a little 
before their death. (2.) That the term sanctified is 
continually applied by St. Paul to all that were justi- 
fied. (3.) That by this term alone, he rarely if ever 
means, saved from all sin. (4.) That consequently 
it is not proper to use it in that sense, without adding 

* Peck's Lecures on Perfection, page 60. 
f Doctrinal Tracts, page 354. 



384 ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

the words, wholly, entirely, or the like. (5.) That 
the inspired writers almost continually speak of, or to 
those who were justified, but rarely of or to those 
who were wholly sanctified. (6.) That consequently, 
it behoves us to speak continually of the state of jus- 
tification ; but more rarely, at least, in full and 
explicit terms concerning entire sanctification. 

" Q. What then is the point where we divide? 

"A. It is this: Should we expect to be saved from 
all sin before the article of death?"* 

Here, then, it is admitted, that believers generally, 
are not entirely sanctified, " until a little before their 
death." But, if " God may, with man's good leave, 
cut short the work," and sanctify all at once, it must 
be an enormous sin to withhold that leave. It fol- 
lows, therefore, that all who are not " wholly sancti- 
fied," are enormous sinners. And this includes the 
Apostle Paul "at the time he wrote his former Epis- 
tles," as well as "those generally to whom he wrote," 
and "the generality of believers" since, including 
Messrs. Wesley, Watson, Dr. Fisk, the General Con- 
ference, &c. Some persons on seeing the extremely 
uncandid course of the Arminian writers we have 
alluded to, have said, "they were not perfect." This 
is not surprising. But that we should be told by the 
General Conference, not only that they were not 
pious, but enormous sinners, "till a little before 
death," is what we did not expect. Our wonderment 
ceases, however, when we find the Apostle Paul in the 
same category. 

A second attainment contended for, is one in which 
the believer not only does not sin, but is purified 
from all tendency to sin. This, however, is short of 
Adamic perfection, inasmuch as he is still liable to 
make mistakes, &c, on account of unavoidable igno- 
rance, and his unavoidable infirmities. 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 61, 62. 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 385 

"A Christian," says the General Conference, "is 
so far perfect as not to commit sin, but it is only of 
grown Christians it can be said, they are so perfect 
as to be free from evil desires and evil tempers. 
Indeed, whence should they spring? Out of the heart 
of man ? But if the heart be no longer evil, then evil 
desires no longer proceed out of it, 'for a good tree 
cannot bring forth evil fruit.' And as they are 
freed from evil desires, so likewise from evil tempers. 
Every one of them can say with St. Paul, ' I am 
crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live, yet not I, 
but Christ liveth in me." " He is purified from 
pride, for Christ was lowly in heart. He is pure 
from evil desire and self-will, for Christ desired only 
to do the will of his Father. And he is pure from 
anger in the common sense of the word, for Christ 

was meek and gentle Thus doth Jesus save 

his people from their sins, not only from outward sins, 
but from the sins of their hearts."* 

Commenting on 1 John i. 7 — "The blood of Jesus 
Christ cleanseth from all sin" — they say, "It cleanseth 
at the present time, us living Christians from all sin. 
If any unrighteousness remain in the soul, it is not 
cleansed from all unrighteousness." "It remains, 
then, that Christians are saved in this world from all 
sin, from all unrighteousness ; that they are now in 
such a sense perfect as not to commit sin, and to be 
freed from evil desires and evil tempers." " They 
are freed from self-will, as desiring nothing but the 
holy and perfect will of God, and continually crying 
in their inmost soul, 'Father, thy will be done.' 
At all times their souls are even and calm. Their 
hearts are steadfast and immovable. Their peace 
flowing like as a river, passeth all understanding, and 
they rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."f 

Again, in answer to the question, "What is it to 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 296, 297. f Ibid. pp. 298, 299, 300. 

33 



886 ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

be sanctified?" they say, "To be renewed in the 
image of God in righteousness and true holiness. 

" Q. What is implied in being a perfect Chris- 
tian ? 

" A. The loving God with all your heart, and mind, 
and soul. Deut. vi. 5. 

" Q. Does this imply that all inward sin is taken 
away ? 

" A. Undoubtedly: or how can we be saved from 
all our uncleanness ?"* 

"It implies that we are saved from all perverseness 
and stubbornness of our will, and hardness of heart ; 
from every wrong desire and sinful temper; and that 
we love God with all our heart, and our neighbour as 
ourselves. In a word, this perfection consists in the 
absence of all sin properly so called, and in being 
filled with the fruits of righteousness, humility, repent- 
ance, faith, love, meekness, patience, and whatever 
is implied in Christian holiness, "f 

" Christian perfection," says Mr. Fletcher, "is a 
spiritual constellation made up of perfect repentance, 
perfect self denial, perfect resignation, perfect hope, 
perfect charity for our visible enemies, as well as for 
our earthly relations; and above all, perfect love for 
our invisible God, through the explicit knowledge of 
our Mediator Jesus Christ. And as this last star is 
always accompanied by all others, we frequently use, 
as St. John, the phrase, 'perfect love,' 'instead of 
the word perfection ; understanding by it the pure 
love of God shed abroad in the hearts of established 
believers by the Holy Ghost, which is abundantly 
given them under the fulness of Christian dispensa- 
tion.'^ 

"This perfection," says the Rev. Mr. Porter, 
"excludes, 'envy,' 'covetousness,' 'jealousy,' 'emu- 
lation,' 'wrath,' and 'consequently, all misrepresen- 

* Doctrinal Tracts, p. 303. f Christian's Manual, p. 33. 

% Peck's Lectures, page 67. 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 387 

tations of another's views, plans, or feelings. All 
tale-bearing, tattling, and slanderous insinuations. 
Every kind and degree of reference to others, which 
shall detract from their respectability, influence, or 
pleasure. Indeed, all expressions, actions, and sur- 
mises, that we would not have arrayed against our- 
selves."* 

Does the reader ask, How is it possible for man in 
his fallen and impaired condition, to make the attain- 
ment here contended for? Mr. Wesley, the General 
Conference, &c, shall answer. 

Thus, in answer to the question, "How is Christ 
the end of the law for righteousness, to every one that 
believeth?" they say, "In order to understand this, 
you must understand what law is here spoken of. 
This I apprehend is, (1.) The Mosaic law, the 
whole Mosaic dispensation; which St. Paul continu- 
ally speaks of as one, though containing three parts, 
the political, moral, and ceremonial. (2.) The Adamic 
law; that given to Adam in innocence, properly called 
' the law of works.' This is in substance the same 
with the angelic law, being common to angels and 
man. It required that man should use to the glory 
of God, all the powers with which he was created. 
Now, he was created free from any defect, either in 
his understanding or his affections. His body was 
no clog to the mind; it did not hinder his apprehend- 
ing all things clearly, judging truly concerning them, 
and reasoning justly, if he reasoned at all. Perhaps 
he had no need of reasoning fall his corruptible body 
pressed down the mind, and impaired his native fac- 
ulties. Perhaps till then the mind saw every truth 
that offered, as directly as the eye now sees the light. 
Consequently, this law, proportioned to his original 
powers, required that he should always think, always 
speak, and always act precisely right in every point 

* Compendium of Methodism, pp. 262, 263. 



388 ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

whatever. He was well able to do so ; and God could 
not but require the service he was able to pay. 

" But Adam fell; and his incorruptible body be- 
came corruptible: and ever since, it is a clog to the 
soul, and hinders its operations. Hence at present, 
no child of man can at all times apprehend clearly, or 
judge truly. And where either the judgment or the 
apprehension is wrong, it is impossible to reason 
justly. Therefore it is as natural for a man to mis- 
take as to breathe ; and he can no more live without 
the one than without the other. Consequently no 
man is able to perform the service which the Adamic 
law requires. And as no man is obliged to perform 
it, God does not require it of any man. For Christ is 
the end of the Adamic as well as the Mosaic law." 
"Nor is any man living bound to observe the Adamic 
more than the Mosaic law."* " The whole law under 
which we now are, is fulfilled by love. Rom. xiii. 9, 10. 
Faith working, or animated by love, is all that God 
now requires of man. He has substituted love in the 
room of angelic perfection." " It is the end of every 
commandment of God. It is the point aimed at by 
the whole and every part of the Christian institution. 
The foundation is faith purifying the heart; the end 
love, preserving a good conscience." " The loving 
the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and 
strength, and the loving our neighbour, every man, as 
ourselves, as our own souls* "f 

Mr. Wesley, speaking of angels, says, " Though 
their knowledge is limited, (for they are creatures,) 
though they are ignorant of innumerable things, yet 
they are not liable to mistake. Their knowledge is 
perfect in its kind. And as their affections are all 
constantly guided by their unerring understanding, 
so that all their actions are suitable thereto ; so they 

* " I mean, it is not the condition either of present or future 
salvation." 

f Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 330—333. 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 389 

do every moment, not their own will, but the good 
and acceptable will of God. Therefore it is not pos- 
sible for man, whose understanding is darkened ; to 
whom mistake is as natural as is ignorance; who can- 
not think at all but by the mediation of organs which 
are weakened and depraved like the other parts of his 
corruptible body ; it is not possible, I say, for man al- 
ways to think right, to apprehend things distinctly, 
and to judge truly of them. In consequence hereof, 
his affections, depending on his understanding, are 
variously disordered. And his words and actions are 
influenced, more or less, by the disorder both of his 
understanding and affections. It follows, that no man 
while in the body can possibly attain to angelic per- 
fection. 

" Neither can any man, while he is in a corruptible 
body, attain to Adamic perfection. Adam before his 
fall was undoubtedly as pure, as free from sin, as even 
the holy angels. In like manner his understanding 
was as clear as theirs, and his affections as regular. 
In virtue of this, as he always judged right, so he was 
able always to speak and act right. But since man 
rebelled against God, the case is widely different with 
him. He is no longer able to avoid falling into innu- 
merable mistakes: consequently he cannot always 
avoid wrong affections, neither can he always think, 
speak, and act right. Therefore, man, in his present 
state, can no more attain Adamic than angelic per- 
fection."* 

Mr. Fletcher says, "With respect to the Adamic 
Ohristless law of innocence and paradisiacal perfec- 
tion, we utterly renounce the doctrine of sinless per- 
fection for three reasons. We are conceived and born 
in a state of sinful degeneracy, whereby that law is 
already virtually broken. Our mental and bodily 
powers are so enfeebled, that we cannot help actually 

* Sermon on Perfection. 

33* 



390 ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

breaking that law in numberless instances, even after 
our full conversion. And, when once we have broken 
that law, it considers us transgressors for ever : nor 
can it any more pronounce us sinless, than the rigor- 
ous law which condemns a man to be hanged for mur- 
der can absolve the murderer, let his repentance and 
faith be ever so perfect. 

" But Christ has so completely fulfilled our Crea- 
tor's paradisiacal law of innocence, which allows nei- 
ther of repentance nor of renewed obedience, that we 
shall not be judged by that law ; but by a law adapted 
to our present state and circumstances — a milder law, 
called the law of Christ; that is, the Mediator's law, 
which is like himself, full of evangelical grace and 
truth." 

" We do not doubt, but as a reasonable, loving 
father never requires of his child who is only ten years 
old, the work of one who is thirty years of age, so our 
Heavenly Father never expects of us in our debili- 
tated state, the obedience of immortal Adam in para- 
dise, or the interrupted worship of sleepless angels in 
heaven."* 

But notwithstanding we are thus explicitly told 
what Christian perfection is — that the divine law 
has been brought down to the lapsed condition of 
man, and that under the law, thus lowered, he may 
be entirely sanctified, we will now show, according to 
Arminians, that a Christian is not "so far perfect as 
not to commit sin." 

From Mr. Wesley, we have the following, viz. 

" Question. What is Christian perfection ? 

"Answer. The loving God with all our heart, 
mind, soul, and strength. This implies that no wrong 
temper, none contrary to love, remains in the soul : 
and that all thoughts, words and actions are governed 
by pure love. 

* "Last Check," pp. 380, 331. 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 391 

" Q. Do you affirm that this perfection excludes 
all infirmities, ignorance and mistakes? 

u A. I continually affirm the contrary, and always 
have done so. 

" Q. But how can every thought, word, and work, 
be governed by pure love, and the man be subject at 
the same time to ignorance and mistake? 

" A. I see no contradiction here. A man may be 
filled with pure love, and still be liable to mistake. 
Indeed, I do not expect to be freed from actual mis- 
take, till this mortal puts on immortality. I believe 
this to be the natural consequence of the soul's dwell- 
ing in flesh and blood. For we cannot now think at 
all, but by the mediation of those bodily organs, 
which have suffered equally with the rest of our 
frame. And hence, we cannot avoid sometimes 
thinking wrong, till this corruptible shall put on incor- 
ruption. A mistake in judgment may possibly occa- 
sion a mistake in practice ; yet when every 

word and action springs from love, such a mistake is 
not properly a sin. However, it cannot bear the 
rigour of God's justice, but needs atoning blood. 

" Q. What was the judgment of all our brethren 
who met at Bristol in August, 1758, on this head ? 

" A. It was expressed in these words: (1.) Every 
one may mistake as long as he lives. (2.) A mistake 
in opinion may occasion a mistake in practice. (3.) 
Every such mistake is a transgression of the perfect 
law. Therefore, (4.) Every such mistake, were it not 
for the blood of atonement, would expose to eternal 
damnation. (5.) It follows that the most perfect have 
continual need of the merits of Christ, even for their 
actual transgressions, and may say for themselves, 
as well as for their brethren, ' Forgive us our tres- 
passes.' 

" The best of men still need Christ in his priestly 
office, to atone for their omissions, their shortcomings, 
(as some not improperly speak,) their mistakes in 



392 ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

judgment and practice, and their defects of various 
kinds. For these are all deviations from the perfect 
law, and consequently, need an atonement."* 

To this, we reply, " Sin is the transgression of the 
law," John iii. 4, and nothing else is. Christ made 
"his soul an offering for sin," Isa. liii. 10, and for 
nothing else. If, then, " the best of men, as long as 
they live," make such mistakes as "are transgres- 
sions of the perfect law," such as " would expose 
(them) to eternal damnation, were it not for the blood 
of the atonement," then the best of men are sinners. 

We will show next, that none are sanctified entirely, 
according to the law of love. 

Mr. Wesley and the General Conference, speaking 
of the Mosaic law, say, "God has established another 
law in its place, even the law of faith, and we are all 
under this law to God and to Christ. Both our Crea- 
tor and Redeemer require us to observe it." 

" Q. Is love the fulfilling of this law? 

"A. Unquestionably it is. The whole law under 
which we now are, is fulfilled by love, Rom. xiii. 9, 
10. Faifch working or animated by love, is all that 
God now requires of man. He has substituted, (not 
sincerity, but) love in the room of angelic perfec- 
tion. 

" Q. How is love the end of the commandment ? 
1 Tim. i. 5. 

"A, It is the point aimed at by the whole and 
every part of the Christian institution. The founda- 
tion is faith, purifying the heart; the end, love, pre- 
serving a good conscience. 

" Q. What love is this ? 

"A. The loving the Lord our God with all our 
heart, mind, and soul, and strength, and the loving 
our neighbour, every man, as ourselves, as our own 
souls." " But the best of men need Christ as their 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 309—312. 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 393 

priest, their atonement, their advocate with the 
Father, not only as the continuance of their every 
blessing depends on his death and intercession, but 
on account of their coming short of the law of love. 
For every man living does so. . . . 

" Q. But if all this be consistent with Christian 
perfection, that perfection is not freedom from all sin, 
seeing 'sin is the transgression of the law;' and the 
perfect in love transgress the very law they are under. 
Besides, fhey need the atonement of Christ ; and he 
is the atonement for nothing but sin. Is, then, the 
term of 'sinless perfection' proper? 

"A. I do not approve of the expression."* 

Here it is admitted, that the "perfect in love" 
transgress the law of love, in consequence of which 
they need the atonement of Christ, and that the 
term "sinless perfection" is improper. But if "the 
perfect in love" are not perfect in love, that term is 
improper also, and so are the terms, "wholly sancti- 
fied," " entirely sanctified." So, then, Arminians 
after all, give up "entire sanctification," if not as 
unattainable, as unattained, and so give up the ques- 
tion. 

Having shown that a Christian is not so far perfect 
as not to commit sin, I will show that neither is he 
purified from a tendency to sin. It is said, as we 
have seen, that he is " entirely sanctified, is free from 
evil tempers ; from anger in the common sense of the 
word." But Paul and Barnabas had "a contention 
so sharp that they departed asunder one from the 
other." Acts xv. 39. 

Is it asked how the Arminian gets over this fact ? 
Let us hear Dr. Peck. 

"Dr. S. must give me some further light before 
I can conclude with any safety that this sharp 
contention affords any evidence that St. Paul's mind 

* Doctrinal Tracts, pp. 832—336. 



394 ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

and affections had not been in a state of entire sanc- 
tification. I must know either that Paul had the 
wrong side in the quarrel, and that he took this side 
against good reason, or that he prosecuted the con- 
troversy in an unchristian spirit. All contention is 
not sin."* 

Mr. Wesley says: "Would not any one think, on 
reading these words, that they were both equally 
sharp ? That Paul was just as hot as Barnabas, and 
as much wanting in love as he? But th^ text says 
no such thing, as will be plain, if we consider first 
the occasion. When St. Paul proposed that they 
should 'again visit the brethren in every city where 
they had preached the word;' so far they were 
agreed. ' And Barnabas determined to take with 
him John, because he was his sister's son,' without 
receiving or asking Paul's advice. 'But Paul thought 
not good to take him with them, who had departed 
from them from Paraphilia,' (whether through sloth 
or cowardice,) 'and went not with them to the work.' 
And undoubtedly, he thought right; he had reason 
on his side. The following words are, ~kai egeneto 
paroxusmos; literally, 'And there was a fit of 
anger." It does not say in St. Paul, probably it was 
in Barnabas alone, who thus supplied the want of 
reason with passion, so that they 'parted asunder.' 
And Barnabas resolved to have his own way, did as 
his nephew had done before, departed from the work, 
took Mark with him, and sailed to Cyprus. But 
Paul went on to his work, being recommended by the 
brethren to the grace of God, (which Barnabas seems 
to have staid for.) 'And he went through Syria and 
Cilicia, confirming the churches.' 

"From the whole account it does not appear that 
St. Paul was in any fault: that he either felt any tem- 
per, or spoke any word contrary to the law of love. 

* Lectures on Perfection, pp. 397, 398. 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 395 

Therefore, not being in any fault, he does not need 
any excuse."* 

It is a very common remark, that what a man de- 
sires to believe, he is very apt to bring himself to 
believe. Accordingly as Mr. Wesley very earnestly 
desired to make it appear that Paul was entirely sanc- 
tified, he says, "Probably the fit of anger was in 
Barnabas alone;" then that "it does not appear 
that St. Paul felt any temper, or spoke any word con- 
trary to the law of love; and then, that he was "not 
in any fault," so that what was at first probable only, 
in a few sentences is clear of all doubt. 

With all due deference to the scholarship of Mr. 
Wesley, who was "sometime fellow of Lincoln Col- 
lege, Oxford," we think the translators of the Bible 
translated this passage as the sense required. The 
whole connection shows that Paul was "probably" 
about as angry as Barnabas; for it is immediately 
added, "they departed asunder, one from the other." 
Now is it probable they would do this without sharp 
words? If the anger was on the part of Barnabas 
only, is it not most likely Luke would have informed 
us that "he only got angry and left Paul," instead of 
saying "there was a fit of anger and they departed 
asunder." But if Paul was angry, either he was not 
"wholly sanctified," as it is said he was not "when 
he wrote his former epistles," or his heart was not 
purified "from anger." But admitting that Messrs. 
Wesley and Peck, and the General Conference get 
Paul over the difficulty, what becomes of Barnabas? 
That he indulged in sinful anger and in sinful acts, is 
not disputed. As then "a Christian is so far perfect 
as not to commit sin," and any wilful sin blots reli- 
gion out of the heart, either Barnabas had no religion, 
or he fell from grace. The latter is the Arminian 
view. Accordingly, Mr. Wesley supplies what was 

* Sermon on Charity. 



396 ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

omitted by Luke, and tells us he " did as his nephew 
had done before, departed from the work," of which 
there is not a particle of evidence. All that is said, 
is, that " Barnabas took Mark and sailed unto Cy- 
prus." Acts xv. 39. That he relinquished the minis- 
try, is affirmed by Mr. Wesley only. But, if he, who 
is " entirely sanctified, is free from anger in the com- 
mon sense of the word," what becomes of Mr. Wes- 
ley? Does he not tell us that when his brother 
Charles began to laugh, he (Mr. Wesley) "began to 
be very angry?"* Now, as " the disciple is not above 
his master," we have never known a disciple of Mr. 
Wesley, who, in reference to anger, seemed to be 
otherwise than " as his master." 

Having noticed two of the attainments in holiness 
contended for, and the inconsistencies and absurdities 
connected with them, we proceed to a third, viz. 
Adamic holiness. This, the reader will remember, 
has been given up as unattainable. Now, however, he 
will find that there is no piety short of it. Thus says 
the General Conference: "In the work of sanctifica- 
tion there is such a change wrought in all the affec- 
tions and tempers of the mind, as to do away every 
root of bitterness, every evil propensity."f 

Mr. Wesley says : " By salvation I mean, not barely 
according to the vulgar notion, deliverarce from hell, 
or going to heaven; but a present deliverance from 
sin: a restoration of the soul to its primitive health, 
its original purity. "J 

Rev. N. L. Bangs says, " When a sinner is regene- 
rated and justified, his depravity is not changed, nor 
subjugated ... it must be totally destroyed. In the 
destruction of carnality, the soul which was con- 
taminated with sin, is washed and saved. "§ 

The Rev. R. Watson says, " Regeneration is a con- 

* Works, Vol. III. p. 183. f Christian's Manual, p. 96. < 

% Works, Vol V. p. 96. \ Reformer Reformed, pp. 134, 135. 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 397 

comitant of justification: but the Apostles, in address- 
ing the body of believers in the churches to whom 
they wrote their Epistles, set before them, both in the 
prayers they offer in their behalf, and in the exhorta- 
tions they administer, a still higher degree of deliver- 
ance from sin, as well as a higher growth in Christian 
virtues." "To prove this," he quotes and comments 
on 1 Thess. v. 23, 2 Cor. vii. 1, and then says, "By 
which can only be meant our complete deliverance 
from all spiritual pollution — all inward depravation of 
heart, as well as that which, expressing itself out- 
wardly by the indulgence of the senses, is called fil- 
thiness of the flesh."* 

The Rev. Mr. Treffry says, " Perfection has a two- 
fold character. There is a perfection of joarts, and a 
perfection of degrees. A thing is perfect in the 
former sense, when it possesses all the properties or 
qualities which are essential to its nature, without 
any deficiency or redundancy. Thus a machine is 
perfect when it has all its parts, and these parts so 
admirably disposed as completely to answer the pur- 
pose for which it was formed. Thus a human body 
is perfect when it has all the limbs, muscles, arteries, 
veins, &c, that belong to the human body. And thus 
I conceive every Christian believer is perfect, as he is 
endowed with all the graces of the Spirit, and the 
fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ to 

the glory and praise of God In religion, 

indeed, the imagination cannot picture any additional 
virtue, nor the mind conceive of any new grace to be 
added to the Christian character. The feeblest saint 
is as perfect in this sense, as the most established 
Christian, and the babe as complete as the man. And 
I greatly question, whether the glorified spirits in 
heaven are more perfect than the saints upon earth. "f 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap. xxix. 

f Peck's Lectures on Christian Perfection, page 75. 

34 



398 ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

Dr. Adam Clarke says: "This perfection is the 
restoration of man to the state of holiness from which 
he fell, by creating him anew in Christ Jesus, and 
restoring to him that image and likeness of God 
which he lost. A higher meaning it cannot have, a 
lower meaning it must not have. Many stagger at 
the term perfection in Christianity; because they 
think that what is implied in it, is inconsistent with a 
state cf probation, and savours of pride and pre- 
sumption. But we must take good heed how we 
stagger at any woid of God. The whole design of 
God was to restore man to his image, and raise him 
from the ruins of the fall. In a word, to make him 
perfect; to blot out all his sins, purify his soul, and 
fill him with holiness; so that no unholy temper, evil 
desire, or impure affection or passion, shall either 
lodge or have any being within him. This, and this 

only, is true religion or Christian perfection 

They who ridicule this, are scoffers at the word of 
God. They who deny it, deny the whole scope and 
design of the mission of Jesus Christ. And they who 
preach the opposite doctrine, are either speculative 
Antinomians or pleaders for Baal."* 

If then "in the work of sanctification, there is such 
a change wrought in all the affections and tempers of 
the mind, so as to do away every root of bitterness, 
and every evil propensity :" if it "is the restoration 
of man to the state of holiness from which he fell — a 
restoration of the soul to its primitive health, to its 
original purity" — a "complete deliverance from all 
spiritual pollution; all inward depravation of heart, 
as well as that which, expressing itself outwardly, by- 
indulgence of the senses, is called filthiness of the 
flesh," so that "the imagination cannot picture any 
additional virtue, nor the mind conceive of any new 
grace to be added to the Christian character," our 

* Peck's Lectures on Perfection, pp. 70 — 72. 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 399 

first parents were not more entirely free from sin, or 
more truly elevated. 

This, it is true, is widely different from what has 
been already conceded, but it will be remembered 
that all along, what is conceded at one time, is main- 
tained at another, and that Arminianism, like the 
iEolian harp, varies its tone according to the blowing 
of the wind. 

The fifth and highest attainment contended for, is 
supra-angelic holiness. 

Thus says Mr. Wesley, " Mankind in general, have 
gained by the fall of Adam a capacity of attaining 
more holiness and happiness on earth than it would 
have been possible for them to attain if Adam had 
not fallen." And "as the more holy we are upon 
earth, the more happy we must be, seeing there is an 
inseparable connection between holiness and happi- 
ness; . . . therefore the fall of Adam by giving us 
an opportunity of being far more holy," "how little 
reason have we to repine at the fall of our first 
parent, since herefrom we may derive such unspeak- 
able advantages, both in time and in eternity."* 

If then, man, who, as originally created, was but 
"a little lower than the angels," Heb. ii. 7, "may 
derive from the fall of Adam unspeakable advantages, 
both in time and in eternity," "having gained there- 
by a capacity and an opportunity of being far more 
holy on earth than would have been otherwise possi- 
ble ;" he may outstrip the angels. 

The devil told our first parents, that by eating the 
forbidden fruit, they would make a most happy 
advancement. This, it is true, the Bible tells us was 
a lie ; but it would seem that the Bible even, must 
give way before the illumination of Mr. Wesley, and 
that the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and 
evil, was after all, "to be desired to make us wise, 

* Sermon on God's Love to Fallen Man. 



400 ENTIRE SANCTIFICATIOISr. 

and holy, and happy." Here, then, to sum up the 
whole, we have it contended, first, that all Christians 
are so far perfect as to be free from actual sin. This, 
however, has been shown to be a state of very great 
sin, inasmuch as nothing but the want of "man's good 
leave" prevents God from advancing all, and at once, 
to a much higher state. We have it contended, 2. That 
by the fall of our first parents, man was rendered 
incapable of Adamic perfection, and being incapaci- 
tated for that attainment, it is not required of him, 
but that the Adamic and Mosaic laws have been 
brought down to his fallen capacit} 7 , so that he may, 
and often does attain, long before he dies, to Adamic 
holiness of heart, though not to Adamic clearness of 
intellect. Here, however, they maintain first, that 
this attainment is not made by Christians generally, 
until a little "before the article of death." And yet, 
secondly, that it is essential to piety, so that he who 
has not attained it, is not pious. Or, as Mr. Wesley 
expresses it, " All faith that is, that ever was, or 
ever can be, separate from tender benevolence to 
every child of man, friend or foe, Christian, Jew, 
Heretic, or Pagan; separate from gentleness to all 
men ; separate from resignation in all events, and 
contentedness in all conditions, is not the faith of a 
Christian, and will stand us in no stead before the 
face of God;" "that let us have ever so much faith, 
and be our faith ever so strong, it will never save us 
from hell, unless it now save us from all unholy tem- 
pers ; from pride, passion, impatience; from all arro- 
gance of spirit, all haughtiness, and overbearing; from 
wrath, anger; from discontent, murmuring, fretful- 
ness, peevishness."* 

In reply to this, we have shown it to be admitted, 
that "the most perfect have continual need of the 
merits of Christ for their actual transgressions;" that 
" the best of men need Christ as their priest, their 

* Sermon on Charity. 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 401 

atonement, their advocate with the Father, on account 
of their coming short of the law of love, for every 
man does so." 

Ifr is maintained, thirdly, that there can be no piety 
short of Adamic perfection ; and fourthly, that by the 
fall of man his capacity has been so enlarged, and 
his opportunities so improved, that in this life he may 
attain to supra-angelic holiness. It is not wonderful, 
therefore, that the student of polemic theology finds it 
difficult to ascertain the sentiments of Arminians in 
reference to the question under review. The distinct 
and regular opinions in which they agree, are four, 
which, with the subdivisions, amount to seven. About 
as many opinions, surely, as any Church can main- 
tain on any question. 

But, again, if it be true, as is contended, that the law 
has been lowered, and if it be true, that man has rea- 
son " to bless Grod for having permitted the fall of 
man," "he having gained thereby a capacity and an 
opportunity of attaining far more holiness and happi- 
ness on earth than it would have been possible for 
him otherwise to attain," then we have the absurdity 
of a law lowered to meet the wants of an enlarged 
capacity. 

Finally, if, as it is maintained, God, in mercy to 
mankind, has abolished that rigorous law under which 
we were originally, and has introduced a new and 
milder law, which, in compliance with our weaknesses 
since the fall, requires no more than imperfect sin* 
cere obedience, then it follows,* 

1. That we are not obligated by the requirements 
and prohibitions of the original law. And, 

2. That nothing we do or omit, is a violation of 
that law. For if we are not under it, we are not 
obligated by it, and so, in the nature of the case, can- 
not transgress it. But, if this be true, and if it can 
be shown that we are under a law of love only, then 
it follows that there is no penalty attached to any 

34* 



402 ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

transgression, nor is there any law under which any- 
one can be sent to hell, or punished even. Of course, 
then, punishment, that great barrier to sin, has been 
taken away. But, if this has been taken away by the 
interposition of Christ, then Christ becomes the min- 
ister of sin. But this is Antinomianism. " Antino- 
mians," says the Rev. R. Watson, " are those who 
maintain that the law is of no use under the gospel, 
or who hold doctrines that clearly supersede the ne- 
cessity of a virtuous life."* Here, then, we have the 
sheerest Antinomianism in the Methodist Church. 
Whether the demoralizing tendency stated by Mr. 
Watson, has followed it there, can be judged of by 
the account of the state of morals in that Church, 
as given by Methodists themselves. f A " check," 
therefore, to this Antinomianism, is loudly called for. 
This brings up the Calvinistic or scriptural view of 
the doctrine under consideration. 

Calvinists think there never was an adult, rational 
human being since the fall, who, at the close of any 
day, could come to the honest conclusion, that his 
thoughts and words, and acts throughout the day, had 
been, in all respects, just as they ought to have been, 
and might have been; and that he had so fully dis- 
charged his whole duty, in all things, as he ought to 
have done, and might have done; that he had no omis- 
sions to deplore nor transgressions for which to ask 
forgiveness. They think further, that the corruption 
which remains in the best of men while they live, 
taints all they do. With the great Calvin, they 
"strenuously insist that there never was an action 
performed by a pious man, which, if examined by the 
scrutinizing eye of divine justice, would not deserve 
condemnation. "J The conclusion to which a very 
careful examination has brought them, is that, "As 

* Theological Dictionary, term Antinomian. f See Chap. xii. 
% Institutes, Book III. Chap. xi. 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 403 

there is no man that sinneth not," 1 Kings viii. 46, 
" there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good 
and sinneth not," Eccl. vii. 20. And therefore, that 
" if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves," 
1 John i. 8. Hence, in answer to the question, " Is 
any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of 
God ?" they say, " No mere man since the fall, is able, 
in this life, perectly to keep the commandments of 
God ; but doth daily break them in thought, word, 
and deed."* 

Strange as it may appear, this too is one of the 
doctrines of the-Methodist Episcopal Church. Speak- 
ing of good works, the General Conference say, 
" Although good works, which are the fruits of faith, 
and follow after justification, cannot put away sins, 
and endure the severity of God's judgments ; yet are 
they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, &c."f 

Here, then, we are told by the highest authority 
in the Church, that our "good works cannot endure 
the severity of God's judgments." This is Calvinism. 

"We suppose," says the Rev. N. L. Bangs, "that 
in consequence of our apostacy, the fatal eiFects 
of which are more or less felt by the best of men 
while they live, no man, in the present life, perfectly 
fulfils the precepts of the law, for if he did, he 
would no longer need the atoning merits of Christ." 
This, too, is Calvinism. 

As to the idea that the law has been brought down 
to man's fallen capacity, if ^this be so, we ask how 
does it happen that we have the capacity of man so 
enlarged that he can attain to supra-angelic holi- 
ness? 

If, again, " Christ is the end of the Adamic as well 
as of the Mosaic law," so that "no man living is 
bound to observe the Adamic more than the Mosaic 
law," how does it happen that Arminians quote the 

* Shorter Catechism, Question 82. 

f Articles and Discipline of the M. E. Church. Article X. 



404 ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

precepts of the Old Testament, as if they were 
binding? 

That the ceremonial laws are not binding, we 
learn, 

1. From expressed declarations of Scripture. See 
Col. ii. 14-17; Eph. ii. 15, 16. 

2. From the fact, that although they are often 
quoted and referred to by the writers of the New 
Testament, they are never quoted or referred to as 
obligatory after the death of Christ. 

That there has been no lowering of the moral law, 
we infer, 

1. From the fact that the teachings of the Old 
Testament are constantly quoted in the New Testa- 
ment as obligatory. Every one of the ten command- 
ments is so quoted, or referred to. 

2. From express declarations of Scripture. Thus 
says our Saviour, " Think not that I am come to 
destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to 
destroy but to fulfil." Matt. v. 17. "It is easier for 
heaven and earth to pass, than for one tittle of the 
law to fail." Luke xvi. 17. Whosoever, therefore, 
shall break one of these least commandments, and 
teach men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom 
of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, 
shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." 
Matt. v. 19. " All things whatsoever ye would that 
men should do unto you, do ye even so to them, for this 
is the law and the prophets." Matt. vii. 12. "Thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and 
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is 
the first and great commandment: and the second is 
like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy- 
self. On these two commandments hang all the law 
and the prophets." Matt. xxii. 37 — 40; xix. 16; 
Rom. xiii. 8 — 10. 

Here, then, we are expressly told, not only that 
the old law is still in force, but that upon "the law 



ENTIRE SANCTIEICATION. 405 

of love, hang all the law and the prophets/'* It is 
true that " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse 
of the law, by being made a curse for us." Gal. iii. 13. 
But it no more follows, that we are thereby released 
from future obedience to the law, than that a pardon 
releases a criminal from future obedience to the laws 
of the land. 

3. From the teachings of the Arminians themselves. 
Mr. Wesley, in a brief notice of Luther's comment 
on the Epistle to the G-alatians, says: "How blasphe- 
mously does he speak of the law of God, constantly 
coupling the law with sin, death, hell, or the devil. 
Whereas, it can no more be proved by Scripture, that 
Christ delivers us from the law of God, than that he 
delivers us from holiness, or from heaven. Here, I 
apprehend, is the real spring of the grand error of 
the Moravians. They follow Luther for better, for 
worse. Hence their 'No works, no law, no com- 
mandment.' But who art thou that speakest evil of 
the law, and judgest the law ?"f 

The General Conference says, " The moral law, 
having for its basis the moral perfections of the Di- 
vine Being, is eternal, not only in its duration, but 
also in its obligations. Hence, it has a commanding 
power and authority over the human race, even while 
in a natural state. Its demands are strict and severe, 
yet equitable. It requires perfect and perpetual obe- 
dience in thought, word, and deed, and never relaxes 
in its requisitions, so as to make allowance for infirmi- 
ties or mistakes. Its denunciations are terrible, pro- 
nouncing those accursed, who in the least degree diso- 
bey its absolute commands, and dooming them to 
death and everlasting destruction. But all mankind 
have broken this law. 'For all have sinned and 
come short of the glory of God;' therefore, they are 

* See also Rom. iii. 19, 31; vi. 15: xiii. 8, 9; 1 John ii. o. 
-j- Watson's Life of Wesley, page 208. 



406 ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

unavoidably exposed to its dreadful threatenings, and 
all the curses it pronounces are suspended over their 
guilty heads."* 

Rev. R. Watson says, "All are born under the 
whole malediction" of the Adamic law. But how can 
this be possible, if that law is either lowered or abro- 
gated? 

Again, he says, " The law under which all moral 
agents are placed, there is reason to believe, is sub- 
stantially, and in its great principles, the same, and 
is included in this epitome, 'Thou shalt love the 
Lord thy God. with all thy heart, and with all thy 
soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy 
mind, and thy neighbour as thyself — for though this 
is spoken to men, yet as it is founded in both its 
parts, upon the natural relation of every intelligent 
creature to God, and to all other intelligent creatures, 
it may be presumed to be universal." " Its compre- 
hensiveness is another presumption of its univer- 
sality ; for unquestionably, it is a maxim of universal 
import, that 'love is the fulfilling of the law,' since 
he who loves must choose to be obedient to every 
command issued by the sovereign, or the Father be- 
loved ; and when this love is supreme and uniform 

the obedience must be absolute and unceasing 

Indeed, if rational beings are under a law at all, it 
cannot be conceived that less than this could be re- 
quired by the good and holy being the Creator 

From these views it follows that all particular pre- 
cepts, whether they relate to God or to other rational 
creatures, arise out of one or other of these two 
4 great' and comprehending 'commandments;' and 
that every particular law supposes the general one. 
For in the Decalogue and the writings of the prophets, 
are many particular precepts, though in neither are 
these two great commandments expressly recorded. 

* Germs of Thought, page 102. 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 407 

And yet, our Saviour has told us, that 6 on these 
two commandments hang all the law and the pro- 
phets.' "* 

"Christ," says the General Conference, "has 
adopted every point of the moral law, and engrafted 
it into the law of love."f 

So, then, after a long voyage, we have got back to 
the Bible, and to Calvinism, from which we most 
grievously departed. 

Having quoted several times the Arminian rule on 
the subject of marriage, we will make a few remarks 
in reference to it. 

According to that rule, it is a sin for a pious per- 
son to marry one who is not pious, or at least seeking 
to be so. The Apostle Paul, addressing believers, 
says, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with un- 
believers." 2 Cor. vi. 14. For this prohibition he 
assigns the reason, by asking, " What fellowship hath 
righteousness with unrighteousnes? What commu- 
nion hath light with darkness? What concord hath 
Christ with Belial ? Or what part hath he that believeth 
with an infidel?" Ibid, verse 15. Now as a pious 
Israelite was not prohibited from marrying an Israelite 
who was not pious, though he was forbidden to marry 
an idolater, we think Paul did not intend to teach 
that a pious person may not marry one who is moral, 
and externally a believer, though not pious. For 
although there "are very many, who have not been 
" born of the Spirit," and consequently are not united 
to Christ by a living faith, yet of these very many are 
far from being infidels. The expressions " righteous- 
ness," " light," " Christ," and "believer," contrasted 
with "unrighteousness," "darkness," "Belial," and 
"infidel," show plainly to what class of unbelievers 
Paul refers. Hence we say in our Confession of 

* Theological Institutes, Part II. Chap, xviii. 
f Doctrinal Tracts, page 356. 



408 ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

Faith, Chap. xiv. Sec. 3, " Such as profess the re- 
formed religion should not marry with infidels, pa- 
pists, or other idolaters. Neither should such as are 
godly be unequally yoked by marrying with such as 
are notoriously wicked in their life, or maintain dam- 
nable heresies." If this is not the proper interpre- 
tation of the word of God, then, 

1. The teaching of the New Testament is, in re- 
ference to this particular, different from that of the 
Old Testament. 

2. Believers, in some places, could not marry at 
all, without violating the command of God. 

3. A large number of the members of the Methodist 
Church are fallen from grace. 

There is another subject also, already somewhat 
dwelt upon, about which we will make one or two re- 
marks before we close. It is in reference to Chris- 
tians "resolving that none of their happiness shall 
consist in eating and drinking, or in any pleasures of 
sense;" " admitting no desire of pleasing food or any 
other pleasure of sense ; no desire of pleasing the 
eye, or the imagination, by anything grand, or 
new, or beautiful ; no desire of money, of praise, or 
esteem, or of happiness in any creature." We re- 
mark, 

1. If it be a sin to do these things, then " Method- 
ists are no better than other people." 

2. Since God has given us our senses, and "giveth 
us richly all things to enjoy," 1 Tim. vi. 17, and pre- 
scribed the limits of our enjoyment, 1 Cor. vii. 31, 
" there is nothing better than that every man should 
enjoy the good of all his labour, for it is the gift of 
God." Eccl ii. 24; iii. 13; v. 18, 19. 

We have now gone somewhat hastily over the 
points of difference between Calvinists and Arminians, 
and in reference to the whole will make two quota- 
tions. The first is from an article written by the late 
Kev. Samuel Miller, D. D., which may be found in 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 409 

the Calvinistic Magazine, No. 7, Vol. I, and entitled, 
" Mole-hills and Mountains, or the Difficulties of Cal- 
vinism and Arminianism compared." 

"You will, perhaps, ask, are there no difficulties to 
be encountered in embracing that system of evangeli- 
cal truth, which is usually styled Calvinism? It 
ought not to be disguised, that there are in this sys- 
tem real difficulties, which, probably, no human wis- 
dom will ever be able to solve. But are the difficul- 
ties which belong to the system of Arminianism 
either fewer in number, or less in magnitude? Instead 
of this, they are more numerous, and more serious ; 
more contradictory to reason, more inconsistent with 
the character of God, and more directly opposed both 
to the letter and spirit of his word. I rest in the 
Calvinistic system, with a confidence daily increasing, 
not only because the more I examine it, the more 
clearly it appears to me to be taught in the Holy 
Scriptures ; but also because the more frequently and 
the more carefully I compare the amount of the diffi- 
culties, on both sides, the more heavily they seem to 
me to press against the Arminian doctrine. 

"It is easy and popular to object, that Calvinism has 
a tendency to cut the nerves of all spiritual exertion; 
that, if we are elected, there is no need of exertion ; 
and if not elected, it will be in vain. But this objec- 
tion lies with quite as much force against the Armi- 
nian hypothesis. An Arminian who finds fault with 
the doctrine, of predestination,.as making out God the 
author of sin, unjust, tyrannical, &c, how shall he 
reconcile or clear the difficulties in his own way, 
namely, to believe, as he must, that the Deity has 
created millions of human beings knowing , with cer- 
tainty, before he brought them into existence, that 
they would prove incorrigible sinners, incur his divine 
displeasure, and that he in consequence should con- 
sign them to eternal punishment in the region of 
misery and woe ? All Arminians, though they re- 
35 



410 ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

jectthe doctrine of election, explicitly grant that while 
some will, in fact, be saved, others will, in fact, as cer- 
tainly perish. Now it is perfectly plain, that this 
position is just as liable to the abuse above stated, as 
the Calvinistic doctrine. . 

" If I could admit the dreadful thought, that the 
Christian's continuance in his journey heavenwards, 
depends, not on the immutable love and promise of 
his God, but on the firmness of his own strength, and 
the stability of his own resolutions ; and of course that 
he who is the most eminent saint to-day, may become 
a child of wrath, and an heir of perdition to-morrow; 
in short, if I could conceive of God as working with- 
out any providential design, and willing without any 
certain effect; desiring to save man, yet unable to 
save him, and often disappointed in his expectations, 
doing as much, and designing as much for those that 
perish, as for those that are saved; but after all baf- 
fled in his wishes concerning them; hoping and de- 
siring great things, but certain of nothing, because he 
had determined on nothing ; if I could believe these 
things, then, indeed, I should renounce Calvinism, 
but it would not be to embrace the system of Armin- 
ianism. Alas! it would be impossible to stop here. 
1 must consider the character of God as dishonoured; 
his counsels as degraded to a chaos of wishes and en- 
deavours; his promises as the fallible and uncertain 
declarations of circumscribed knowledge and endless 
doubt; the best hopes of the Christian as liable every 
hour to be blasted; and the whole plan of salvation as 
nothing better than a gloomy system of possibilities 
and peradventures, a system on the whole, nearly, if 
not quite, as likely to land the believer in the abyss 
of the damned, as in the paradise of God." 

Our second quotation is from the sermon of Dr. 
Humphrey, at the opening of the Old-school General 
Assembly, in 1852. 

44 It may be thought that the Arminian divinity, as 



ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 411 

preached by John Wesley, has developed a type of 
Christianity no less diffusive than our own. Now 
while we may not conceal the profound conviction 
that our own theology, even when it differs from 
Wesley's, is the theology of the Bible, yet we would 
do all homage to the vital truths which that great 
man adopted, into his system of faith, and to the zeal 
and success with which he and his disciples have pro- 
claimed them. But the progress of this system raises 
several questions of immense importance. One of 
these respects the peculiar type of piety which it 
developes. On that question I do not propose to 
enter. Another question touches the elements of its 
pow T er. It might be clearly shown, as I humbly con- 
ceive, that its past success is to be referred not to 
those doctrines which are peculiar to itself, but to 
those which are common to both theologies; not to 
its denials respecting election, efficacious grace and 
perseverance; but to its utterance concerning original 
sin, justification and regeneration. 

"A third inquiry relates to the continued and 
future efficiency of modern Arminianism. Is it a per- 
manent redeeming power on earth? On this part of 
the case, I take leave, without intending anything 
disrespectful towards brethren of other persuasions, 
to make a few suggestions. 

"It is now only a few years over a century since 
Wesley began his career. A religious system matures 
slowly. The truths asserted may, for a long period, 
hold in check the serious errors with which they are 
combined. The errors, if not eliminated, will at last 
work out the dissolution of the system. It may 
indeed outlast many generations, but what are even 
ages to the life of a true permanent theology? 

"It is to be remembered, also, that the Arminian 
scheme has yet to be reduced to a systematic and 
logical form. Where are its written formularies 
pushing boldly forth, to their final and inevitable con- 



412 ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

elusions, all its doctrines touching predestination, free 
will and efficacious grace? We have its brief and 
informal creed in some five and twenty articles; but 
where is its complete confession of faith in thirty or 
forty chapters? Where is its whole body of divinity 
from under the hand of a master, sharply defining its 
terms, accurately stating its belief, laying down the 
conclusions logically involved therein, trying these 
conclusions no less than their premises by the word of 
God, refuting objections, and adjusting all its parts 
into a consistent and systematic whole? It has 
furnished us indeed with some detached negations 
and philosophical theories. 

" We have, for example, its flat denial of our doc- 
trine of predestination; but has it to this day met for 
itself, the problem of foreknowledge infinite by a 
more plausible solution than the celebrated sophism, 
that although God has the capacity of foreknowing 
all things, he chooses to foreknow only some things? 
We have also, its notion of the free will, wherein there 
was supposed to be the germ of a systematic Armin- 
ianism ; but this budding promise was long since 
nipped by the untimely frost of Jonathan Edwards's 
logic. It is clear that an exposition of this theology 
which shall satisfy logical consciousness is indispensa- 
ble to its perpetuity: otherwise it cannot take posses- 
sion of educated and disciplined minds — educated by 
the word and Spirit of God, and disciplined to exact 
analysis and argument: otherwise, although it may 
exert a temporary influence, it will retire before 
advancing spiritual and intellectual culture. It is 
also clear that the first century of its existence has 
not produced that exposition. Another century may 
clearly demonstrate that such a production is impos- 
sible, by showing that the logical and scriptural 
element is not in the Arminian system ; that the law 
'of affinity and crystallization is wanting to its dis- 
jointed principles; that this theology, combining 



Wesley's conversion to arminianism. 413 

many precious truths and many capital errors, 
resembles a mingled mass of diamonds and fragments 
of broken glass and pottery, which no plastic skill of 
man, or power of fire, can mould into one, transparent, 
unclouded, many sided, equal sided crystal, its angles 
all beaming, and its points all burning with light — a 
Kohinoor indeed!" 

The reader who may desire to see the opinion of 
one of the most distinguished writers of the present 
age, in reference to the rapid spread, and permanency 
of Arminian Methodism, is referred to "Wesley and 
Methodism," by Isaac Taylor, pp. 194—197. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Wesley's conversion to arminianism. 

The reader of these chapters has no doubt been sur- 
prised at seeing the amount of Calvinism we have 
extracted from the writings of Mr. Wesley. The 
remark of Isaac Taylor is undoubtedly correct, viz. 
" Everything for which a Calvinist, not of a fanatical 
temper, would contend, is embraced within the com- 
pass of Wesley's own preaching language, and might 
indubitably be thence inferred."* How then, it may 
be asked, are we to account for the fact, that he was 
so distinguished and zealous an Arminian? I will 
state the only reason I have ever seen assigned, 
together with some reasons which seem to show its 
probable correctness. 

Mr. Wesley appears to have been in the habit, 
through the greater part of his ministerial life, of 
determining matters of doubt by several kinds of 
lottery. This was, 1. By Bibliomancy, or consulting 

* Wesley and Methodism, page 52. 

35* 



414 WESLEY'S CONVERSION 

the Bible. His plan (if I understood it) was, to open 
the Bible at random, and then determine the question 
at issue, by the first passage that met his eye. " The 
manner in which some persons were tormented," says 
Southey, "perplexed him for a time, and gave him 
some concern. He suspected craziness, when impos- 
ture might have explained the sympathies. But 
having recourse to Bibliomancy, to know what would 
be the issue of these things,, he was satisfied by light- 
ing upon a text which certainly was never more 
unworthily applied." "Glory be to God in the 
highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." 
Luke ii. 14. Thus deluding himself, when he was 
sent for to one of these women, he prayed God to 
bruise Satan under her feet, and the patient immedi- 
ately cried out, "He is gone, he is gone." And so of 
several other cases in the same connection. 

" Of one of these he says, although sent for, he 
was unwilling, indeed, afraid to go, thinking it would 
not avail unless some who were strong in the faith 
would wrestle with God for her. I opened my New 
Testament on these words, 'I was afraid, and went 
and hid thy talent in the earth.' Matt. xxv. 25. I 
stood reproved, and went immediately."* 

"A great sensation having been produced at 
Bristol, by Whitefield, Wesley was to come and keep 
it up. But he and his brother, instead of taking the 
matter into calm and rational consideration, had con- 
sulted the Bible upon the business, and stumbled 
upon uncomfortable texts. The first was, 'And some 
of them would have taken him, but no man laid hands 
on him,' to which they added, 'not till the time was 
come,' that it might correspond with the subsequent 
lots. Another was, 'Get thee up into this mountain, 
and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be 
gathered unto thy people.' The next trial confirmed 

* Southey's Life of Wesley, pp. 147, 148. 



TO ARMINIANISM. 415 

the impression which these had made. 'And the 
children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of 
Moab, thirty days.' These verses were sufficiently 
ominous, but worse remained behind. 'I will show 
him how great things he must suffer for my name's 
sake.' And pushing the trial still further, they 
opened upon the burial of Stephen. 'Whether,' says 
Wesley in his journal, 'this was permitted, only for 
the trial of our faith, God knoweth, and the event 
will show.' These unpropitious texts rendered him 
by no means desirous of undertaking the journey, yet 
he appealed again to the sacred oracles, and says his 
journal, received an answer, as if spoken to himself, 
and answered not again. 'Son of man, behold I take 
from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke, and 
"yet shalt thou not mourn, nor weep, neither shall thy 
tears run down.' The brothers were disposed to let 
the matter rest, but the members of the society con- 
tinued to dispute about it, until to settle the dispute 
they resorted to a lot. The lot decided that Wesley 
should go. This being decided, they opened the 
Bible concerning the issue, but the passage, 'when 
wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own 
house upon his bed, shall I not now require the blood 
at your hands, and take you away from the earth?' 
being still unfavourable, they tried again. This was, 
'Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in 
the city, even in Jerusalem.' This was decisive. 
'We dissuaded my brother,' says Charles Wesley, 
'from going to Bristol, from an unaccountable fear, 
that it would prove fatal to him. He offered himself 
willingly to whatsoever the Lord should appoint. 
The next day he set out, recommended by us to the 
grace of God. He left a blessing behind him. I 
desired to die with him."* 

From this we learn, first, that although Mr. 

* Southey's Life of Wesley, Vol. I. page 148. 



416 WESLEY'S CONVERSION 

Wesley professed implicit confidence in the lot, yet, 
like Balaam, when he could not get what he desired 
by one experiment, he tried again. 2. That notwith- 
standing the lots were all one way, the result was 
exactly the contrary; for it does not appear that he 
received any molestation after he went to Bristol. 

A second kind of lottery, which he practised, was 
to write the yea, and nay, of a question, on separate 
pieces of paper, put each of these in a hat or box, 
and settle the matter by whichever of the pieces he 
drew out. In Gillies's Life of Whitefield, two instan- 
ces of this kind of lottery are related. The first is 
on pages 26 and 27, and is as follows: 

"Whitefield sailed from the Downs for Georgia, a 
few hours only before the vessel which brought 
Wesley back from thence, cast anchor there. The 
ships passed in sight of each other. When Wesley 
landed, he learned that his coadjutor was on board 
the vessel in the offing ; it was still possible to com- 
municate with him; and Whitefield was not a little 
surprised at receiving a letter which contained these 
words: 'When I saw God, by the wind which was 
carrying you out, brought me in, I asked counsel of 
of God. His answer you have enclosed.' The 
enclosure was a slip of paper with this sentence. 
'Let him return to London.' Wesley doubting from 
his own experience, whether his friend could be as 
usefully employed in America as in England, had 
referred the question to chance, in which, at that 
time he had great confidence, and this was the lot he 
had drawn." 

The reader will not fail to discover that Mr. Wes- 
ley considered the lot a divine revelation. " I asked 
counsel of God; his answer you have enclosed," &c. 

The next case related by the same author, may be 
found on page 58. Mr. Wesley, it seems had been 
charged in a private letter with "not preaching the 
gospel, because he did not preach the doctrine of 



TO ARMINIANISM. 417 

election. According to his usual practice at that 
time, instead of consulting with his friends, or even 
advising with himself upon the prudence of engaging 
in controversy, he drew a lot for his direction, and 
the lot was 'preach and print.' So he preached a 
sermon against the doctrine, and printed it." 

Here the reader will not fail to discover the same 
implicit confidence in the lot, as a revelation from God. 
The sermon alluded to, is on "Free Grace." Each of 
these cases of lottery is succinctly related by White- 
field in a letter to Mr. Wesley, contained in the same 
book, pp. 627, 628. This letter is a review of that 
sermon. Mr. Whitefield says, "Before I enter upon 
the discourse itself, give me leave to take a little notice 
of what, in your preface you term an indispensable ob- 
ligation to make it public to all the world. I must own, 
that I always thought you were quite mistaken upon 
that head. The case (you know) stands thus: When 
you were at Bristol, I think you received a note from 
a private hand, charging you with not preaching the 
gospel, because you did not preach up election. 
Upon this you drew a lot. The answer was — preach 
and print. I have often questioned whether in so 

doing you did not tempt the Lord However 

this be, the lot came out — preach and print ; accord- 
ingly you preached and printed against election." . . 
.... " The morning I sailed from Deal to Gibraltar, 
you arrived from Georgia. Instead of giving me an 
opportunity to converse with you, though the ship 
was not far off the shore, you drew a lot, and immedi- 
ately set forward to London. You left a letter be- 
hind you, in which were words to this effect : ' When 
I saw God, by the wind which was carrying you out, 
brought me in, I asked counsel of God. His answer 
you have enclosed.' This was a piece of paper on 
which were written these words: 'Let him return to 

London.' I wrote you word that I could 

not return to London. We sailed immediately. Some 



418 Wesley's conversion to arminianism. 

months after, I received a letter from you at Georgia, 
wherein you wrote words to this effect: 'Though 
God never before gave me a wrong lot, yet perhaps 
he suffered me to have such a lot at that time, to try 
what was in your heart.' " 

The third and only other kind of lottery practised 
by Mr. Wesley, appears to have been the toss of a 
piece of money. This brings up the way in which it 
is charged upon him, that he decided to be an Ar- 
minian. Thus in a letter from the Rev. Augustus 
Toplady to Mr. Wesley, in 1792, we meet with the 
following, viz. "Why should you, of all people in the 
world, be so very angry with the doctrines of grace? 
Forget not the months and days that are past. Re- 
member that it once depended on the toss of a shilling 
whether you yourself should be a Calvinist or an Ar- 
minian. Tails fell uppermost, and you resolved to 
be an Arminian." 

Here, then, is the charge boldly made. If it has 
ever been denied, the writer has never met with the 
denial, nor has he ever heard of it. Mr. Whitehead, 
the biographer of Mr. Wesley, speaking of Mr. Top- 
lady, says: "He assiduously collected anecdotes and 
stories to the prejudice of Mr. Wesley's character; 
and not only mentioned them in private, but commit- 
ted them to paper, and circulated them among his 
friends."* 

Mr. Whitehead here speaks of private charges in 
private letters, but although the charge which we 
adduce was published, Mr. Whitehead makes no allu- 
sion to it. When charged with ill treatment of his 
wife, his friends clear up the charge.f When charged 
with misquoting authors, he himself flatly denies it. J 
When charged with forgery by Mr. Toplady, he gives 
a carefully written evasive answer. Can any one 

* Life of Wesley, page 304. 

f See Watson's Life of Wesley, pp. 187, &c. 

j See Doctrinal Tracts, page 198. 



REVIEW OP FOSTER ON CALVINISM. 419 

doubt, therefore, that if it had been possible to evade, 
or deny this charge, it would have been done? 

The ground then on which the truthfulness of the 
charge seems to depend, is, 

1. That Mr. Wesley was in the habit of settling 
matters of doubt by a lot. 

2. That although he was charged publicly with 
having thus decided to be an Arminian, that charge, 
so far as is known, was never noticed or denied, 
though other charges were. It appears probable, 
therefore, that the charge is true. And if true, as 
with him a lot was considered a revelation from God, 
it at once accounts for the fury of his uncompro- 
mising war against Calvinism, and for the extrava- 
gance of his language, " Whatever it proves besides, 
no scripture can prove predestination," &c- 



CHAPTER XX. 



REVIEW OP POSTER ON CALVINISM. 

In this our closing chapter, we will briefly review the 
latest controversial production on the Arminian side. 
We allude to a book bearing the title of " Objections 
to Calvinism as it is. In a series of letters addressed 
to the Rev. N. L. Rice, D.D., by the Rev. R. S. 
Foster, with an Appendix, containing replies and re- 
joinders: 1850." 

This is decidedly the most sophistical, heated, and 
unjust book we have read in this controversy ; so much 
so, that if it had not been endorsed with unusual com- 
mendation by the organs of the Methodist Church, 
and circulated more freely perhaps than any Armin- 
ian publication in connection with the Calvinistic con- 



420 REVIEW OF 

troversy, it would not have merited a respectful no- 
tice. Universalism, or Infidelity downright, is just 
ahead of the man who can write so rashly of Deity. 
While perusing some of his chapters, we could hardly 
divest ourselves of the idea that we had got hold of 
the sermons of a Universalist preacher. But as we 
intend to be brief in our review, we will not be tedious 
in the introduction. 

"This book," we are told, "is the creature of cir- 
cumstances. It had never existed but for reasons over 
which the author himself had no control. . . He 
made a book, not with intention or forethought, but 
almost before he was aware of it, and without any 
purpose whatever." Page 13. 

This is as we would suppose. The book throughout 
bears evidence of impulse and passion without reflec- 
tion. The wonder is, that a state of excitement high 
enough to give birth to such matter, should have con- 
tinued long enough to bring it into the form of a 
book. But the author continues, 

"The Church, of which he is a humble and obscure 
minister, had been long and grievously assailed by one 
of the principal organs of a sister denomination — her 
doctrines and usages held up to public odium, as per- 
verted by the pen of misrepresentation — her influence 
for piety questioned, and whatever was peculiar to 
her organization ridiculed and calumniated. And this 
ungenerous course was commenced and pursued by 
an accredited champion, at a time when peace and 
Christian union had long existed — against remon- 
strances on our part, and published deprecations of 
the consequences which were certain to ensue." 

Of what was published by Dr. Rice, and here re- 
ferred to, we cannot speak, as we never saw it, but on 
some points we can. 

In a letter from Dr. Rice, dated October 2d, 1854, 
he informs us, that he settled in Cincinnati in 1844; 
that in 1816, he became a joint editor of the Presby- 



FOSTER ON CALVINISM. 421 

terian of the West, then under the management of 
the Sessions of the Old-school Presbyterian Churches 
of that city ; and about two years afterwards the sole 
editor; that in 1848, there appeared an editorial 
article on " Church Membership" in the Western 
Christian Advocate, an organ of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, containing incorrect and oifensive state- 
ments concerning the Presbyterian Church. " This," 
says Dr. Rice, " called forth a series of articles on 
Methodism from a correspondent. Out of this arti- 
cle, together with another on the same subject, grew 
my controversy with Dr. Simpson, in which, so far as 
my articles are concerned, there was not a word that 
could give offence to any reasonable Methodist." 

We leave the reader to make his own comments. 

Mr. Foster says again, this was done " at a time 
when peace and Christian union had long existed," 
&c. 

About the time Dr. Rice removed to Cincinnati, 
the Bishop Andrew difficulty commenced in the Me- 
thodist Church, and during that storm, the assaults on 
Calvinism which commenced with the origin of Me- 
thodism in this country, were considerably abated 
both in the pulpit and newspapers. This is the 
" peace and Christian union that had long existed." 
Let any one examine a file of the Christian Advocate 
and Journal, for any year previous to that event, and 
he will find that neither Popery, Infidelity, Unitari- 
anism, Universalism, nor all, combined, received as 
much attention as Calvinism alone ; and this is true 
of the Methodist pulpit also. But although there was 
an abatement of hostilities in the pulpit and newspa- 
pers, there was no abatement in the issue and circu- 
lation of such tracts as "Duplicity Exposed," "Pre- 
destination calmly considered," "Serious considera- 
tions on Absolute Predestination," " Serious con- 
siderations on the Doctrines of Election and Repro- 
bation," "Free Grace," "The Consequences Proved," 
36 



422 REVIEW OF 

" A Blow at the Root," " A Dialogue between a Pre- 
destinarian and his Friend," "Thoughts on Imputed 
Righteousness," Serious Thoughts on the Perse- 
verance of the Saints," &c. If then Dr. Rice^did 
make an assault, it was upon an armed enemy in the 
field, and doing all he could. 

But farther, as to " peace and Christian union," 
this we think, such as it has been, is likely to continue 
for some time. Within our recollection, not a little 
of the stentorian artillery of the Methodist pulpit was 
directed against " College learning," and theological 
preparation for the ministry. Very much of what we 
heard on these subjects in our young days, we of 
course have forgotten. One sentence, however, we 
remember. It was from the first Methodist preacher 
we ever heard, and ran thus, viz. 

" The sermon of a learned man, is like powder without ball, 
Just a flash and that is all." 

Now, as the juvenile patriarchs and young strip- 
lings of the present day are creating such a stir in 
favour of Academies, Colleges, and Theological Semi- 
naries, we cannot suppose the "old fogies," one of 
whom we heard call colleges "dens of vipers," are 
going to permit the innovation without a struggle. 
Calvinists may therefore expect this peace to be pro- 
longed. But it is time to return from this digression. 
Mr. Foster tells us, that "this ungenerous course" of 
Dr. Rice "was pursued against remonstrances on our 
part, and published deprecations of the consequences." 

"Published deprecations of the consequences," — 
that is, the production of this book. " P arturiunt 
montes, nascitur ridiculus mus"— The mountains 
are in labour, (and) a puny mouse is born. 

He continues, "The object of the author has not 
been to discuss fully the doctrines peculiar to Cal- 
vinism — not to present the counter view of Ar- 
minianism — nothing of the kind : it was simply to 



FOSTER ON CALVINISM. 423 

present a statement of Calvinism, and objections 
thereto." Page 14. 

Here Mr. Foster takes infidel ground. Infidels tell 
us the Bible is not true, but do not tell us what is. 
They aim to put out the light we have, but give us 
nothing in its place. It is worthy of remark, also, 
that notwithstanding Calvinists appeal constantly to 
the Scriptures in support of their peculiar views, Mr. 
Foster takes up a third of his book in an eifort to 
refute what he alleges to be their view of the doctrine 
of election and of the divine decrees, without a single 
quotation from the Bible. On page seventeen he tells 
us, it is true, " that it could have been shown, as it 
has been triumphantly many times, confining the 
argument to the Scripture limits, that Calvinism is 
not taught therein, and that an opposite system 
is;" but as the reader of this work has seen some- 
thing of the torturing and twisting and lopping and 
splicing the word of God has received, in making out 
these triumphant exhibitions, he will not be greatly 
scared at the declaration. 

"Our main object," he continues, "was to show 
that consequences so revolting, inevitably result from 
it, as to prove him guilty of blasphemy who charges 
it upon the word of God; or rather to make it im- 
possible for any one to believe anything so dread- 
ful." 

Here our author takes Universalist ground. The 
"object" of the Universalist ^is "to show that conse- 
quences so revolting, inevitably result from" the idea 
that a merciful God will punish any of his creatures 
for ever " as prove him guilty of blasphemy who 
charges it upon the word of God," and hence the nu- 
merous passages that do most explicitly teach that 
he will so punish them, are tortured to make them 
teach something else. 

But let us hear what Mr. Foster says of these same 
blasphemers. " Toward the Presbyterian Church I 



424 REVIEW OF 

have cherished sentiments of the profoundest attach- 
ment from my boyhood. These sentiments have 
grown up with me to manhood — they remain to this 
hour, despite of her errors. I here record my firm 
persuasion that she has many surpassing excellencies 
— many which my own Church may well and wisely 
emulate." Pages 15, 16. 

According to Mr. Foster, therefore, "blasphemy" 
has, in many respects, a much better effect than truth. 

He continues, "It is assumed that what is logically 
false cannot be scripturally true : and therefore, that 
by involving Calvinism in logical dilemmas it is over- 
thrown and proved to be un scriptural, as the Scrip- 
tures cannot teach what is logically untrue, or teaching 
it, it teaches what is false and contradictory. . . , . 
Whoever, therefore, derives a system from the Bible 
which is false, and demonstrably so to human rea- 
son, by the process of conclusive logic, either derives 
from the Bible what it does not authorize, or he 
proves it false ; in other words, he is mistaken, or the 
Bible is not true." Page 17. 

Here Mr. Foster takes Unitarian ground. Unita- 
rians "assume" that the doctrine of the Trinity is 
logically and mathematically absurd, and therefore, 
that it cannot be derivpd from the Bible; or being 
derived therefrom, the Bible is not the word of God. 
Trinitarians contend on the contrary, that it is taught 
in the Bible, and though incomprehensible to man, is 
neither logically nor mathematically untrue. 

Here, then, is a champion for Arminianlsm, who, 
in his battles against Calvinism, thinks he gains great 
advantage by occupying the ground of infidels, Uni- 
versalists, and Unitarians, the systems of every one 
of which he admits to be false. Does the defence of 
truth require this? In reference to the Unitarian 
ground, it may not be amiss to remark that he fol- 
lows in the footsteps of an illustrious predecessor. 

As to Calvinism being logically false, the great and 



FOSTER ON CALVINISM. 425 

good Robert Hall of England, has said, "If any man 
says he is an Arminian, the inference is, he is not a 
good logician."* It is to be remembered, however, 
that the shadow of Mr. Foster, in Mr. Foster's esti- 
mation, hides all such men as Robert Hall in impene- 
trable darkness. 

But to return: "The object of the author has not 
been to present the counterview of Arminianism." 
no! "nothing of the kind." "Hie labor, hoc opus 
est.''' This is labour, this is work. Having tried our 
hand, we know what it is. In the Appendix, Mr. 
Foster vauntingly tells us, Dr. Rice would not take up 
the gauntlet he, Mr. F., had thrown down. Some- 
times an animal that is very courageous when there 
is a fence between him and his antagonist, becomes 
very peaceful when a gap is opened. Any one ac- 
quainted with the "Campbell-killer" knows, that in 
theological warfare he is a man of chivalry; but no 
man of sense, however chivalrous, would go out into 
the open plain, merely to receive the fire of an anta- 
gonist who shoots from behind a tree. The impartial 
pursuit of truth is not compatible with an examina- 
tion of one side only, of a disputed question. Ac- 
cordingly Dr. Rice, in one of the brief notices he takes 
of Mr. Foster's performance, says: " There is another 
great defect in these letters. The real points of dif- 
ference between Methodists and Presbyterians are not 
stated." " The very first thing necessary to a satis- 
factory discussion of this subject, is a clear statement 
of the difference between the'faith of Methodists and 
Presbyterians. "f 

Added to this, Dr. Rice, in addition to his editorial 
and pastoral duties, was engaged in a controversy 
with "Dr. Simpson," one of Mr. Foster's brethren. { 

But notwithstanding all this, Mr. Foster at this 

* Works, Vol. III. page 35. -j- Appendix, page 248. 

% Appendix, page 268. 

36* 



426 REVIEW OF 

juncture fired at him from behind a tree, and then 
exulted that the doctor declined a contest. Courage- . 
ous man ! your valour is equal to your ability, and 
that, in your estimation, surpasses anything we have 
words to express. 

On page nineteen he says, " The reference made to 
authors in quotation, has, in every instance, with a 
few exceptions, been taken by the writer himself di- 
rectly from them, and to those who cannot examine 
for themselves, he insures their correctness. Those 
charged to Piscator and Twisse, are taken from Mr. 
"Wesley, but their correctness is not questioned."* 

But the " correctness of the quotations charged by 
Mr. Wesley upon Piscator, and Twisse," and several 
others here adduced, is»questioned. It was questioned 
then, and it is questioned now. Mr. Wesley, refer- 
ring to these very quotations, says, in his " Dialogue 
between a Predestinarian and his Friend," " to all 
predestinarians," "I am informed some of you have 
said that the following quotations are false; that these 
words were not spoken by these authors; others, that 
they were not spoken in this sense ; and others, that 
neither you yourself, nor any true predestinarian ever 
did, or ever would speak so."f 

Added to this, Dr. Rice says, " It is easy for one 
w T ho takes up a doctrine without understanding it, to 
make quotations from writers, so partial, or so com- 
pletely severed from explanations and qualifications 
given, as entirely to misrepresent them. This Mr. 
Foster has done — we do not say intentionally."! 

Added to this, any one who will take the trouble 
of reading the appendix to "Annan's difficulties of 
Arminian Methodism," where their falsity is shown, 
will be astonished that they should ever be appealed 
to as authority. (Of course, we do not refer to those 

* Appendix, page 268. f Doctrinal Tracts, page 193. 

J Appendix, pp. 269, 270. 



FOSTER ON CALVINISM. 427 

"taken by the writer himself directly from authors.") 
Added to this, a number of the writers referred to 
were Episcopalians, in the same communion with Mr. 
"Wesley, and yet their writings are quoted by Mr. 
Foster against the Presbyterians. 

But again, in quoting authorities, in controversy 
especially, it is usual to give the name of the book, 
the volume, and page or chapter, so that all concerned 
may be able to examine for themselves. We will here 
give two examples of the way in which Mr. Foster 
gives no inconsiderable number of the quotations in 
his book — they may be found on page 37, and are as 
follows, viz. "Neither does God only excite and pre- 
destinate the will of men to vicious actions, so far as 
they are actions, but he likewise so excites it, that it is 
not possible, but thus acted upon, it shall act."* 

"Moreover, as a second cause cannot act, unless 
acted upon, and previously moved to act, by the pre- 
determining influence of the first, so, in like man- 
ner, that influence of the first cause is so efficacious, 
as that, supposing it, the second cause cannot but 

act."t 

Now, as Mr. Foster "insures" the correctness of his 
quotations, we must not call them in question. But 
Witsius wrote extensively. His principal works are 
contained in five considerable volumes. His other 
works are, " The Economy of the Covenants," "Dis- 
sertations on the Apostles' Creed," "Egyptiaca, et 
Decaphylon," "Canon Chrpnicus," " De Legibus 
Hebrasorum." 

Here then, is a controversialist insuring the cor- 
rectness of his quotations, yet does not tell in which 
volume or chapter, or on what page of ten volumes 
his quotations may be found. In short, he omits 
everything by which they may be found, except the 
name of the reputed author. The reader who, like 

* Witsius. f Witsius. 



428 REVIEW OF 

ourselves, has seen the way in which Arminians have 
quoted Calvinistic authorities, would be glad of an op- 
portunity to examine such quotations as are here 
given, but, alas! they "are hid from our eyes." 

The "objections" Mr. Foster urges, are nearly all 
such as have been already considered; we will there- 
fore pass them over. 

The "Introduction" to the book under review, was 
written by a Mr. Simpson. In it we meet with the 
following, viz. "In the days of Wesley a strong effort 

was made to suppress Arminian views But 

though the spirit of the Synod of Dort was aroused, 
the civil power to punish could not be employed. 
Mr. Wesley continued to preach, and Mr. Fletcher in 
his defence, issued those masterly Checks which dis- 
played at once his superior genius, and the strength 
of the cause which he had espoused." Page 9. 

In reference to these "masterly Checks" of Mr. 
Fletcher, "which displayed at once his superior ge- 
nius, and the strength of the cause he had espoused," 
it may be well to hear Mr. Fletcher himself. Writing 
to Mr. Wesley in 1776, he says: "What has made 
me glut our friends with my books, is not a love to 
such publications, but a desire to make an end of the 
controversy. It is probable my design has miscar- 
ried; and that I have disgusted rather than convinced 
the people."* 

If, then, these Checks were so little esteemed, on 
their first appearance, that they "disgusted rather 
than convinced the people," and are so little valued 
now, that they are among the very rare books to be 
met with in the library of a Methodist preacher, they 
do not appear to have been considered so "masterly" 
after all. 

That we may be able to understand the state of 
things alluded to, it is proper to remark, that some 

* Whitehead's Life of Wesley, page 223. 



FOSTER ON CALVINISM. 429 

time after Methodist societies were formed in England, 
they were in many respects strongly Calvinistic : and 
the Minutes of the Conferences had a strong savour 
of Calvinism. But when Arminianism began to pre- 
vail, it led to the modification of the minutes.* 

In the minutes of the Conference of 1770, we find 
the following, viz. "We said in 1744, 'we have 
leaned too much toward Calvinism. Wherein,' " &c. 
They then go on to modify. f 

Now, this modification of the minutes brought on 
an explosion between the Calvinists and the Armin- 
ians, which explosion finally brought out Mr. Fletcher 
on the Arminian side. Mr. Whitehead, in referring 
to the changes by the Conference, says, "It appears 
to me that the propositions as they stand in the min- 
utes in short sentences, without explanation, have "a 
very suspicious appearance. The expressions are too 
ambiguous, and might easily have been exchanged 
for others more clear, and less liable to give offence. 
I cannot, therefore, commend either the wisdom or 
the prudence that dictated them, notwithstanding the 
abilities of a Fletcher could make them speak clearly 
and explicitly, the language of free grace."% 

The reader who may desire to see a full account of 
what followed the modification referred to, (and which 
is anything but to the credit of Mr. Wesley) is 
referred to the "Life and Times of the Countess of 
Huntingdon," Yol. II. Chap, xxxix. 

Finally, strange as it may appear, Mr. Foster pays 
to Calvinism a high compliment. "Whatever else 
may be said of Calvinism," says he, "it must be ad- 
mitted that it is a complete system. If their view 
of election is true, this (the final perseverance of the 
saints) is consequently true. If their doctrine of the 

* See Whitehead's Life of Wesley, page 193. f Ibid, page 210, 
% Life of Wesley, page 216. 



430 REVIEW OF FOSTER ON CALVINISM. 

atonement is true, this cannot be false. If their doc- 
trine of effectual grace is true, this must follow."* 

Here, then, is admitted, by a most uncompromising 
Arminian, what every Calvinist believes, viz. that 
"Calvinism is a complete system." Just at this 
--point, however, we find ourselves in a dilemma. We 
cannot return the compliment. For " whatever else 
may be said of" Arminianism, it is not a system. 

But we are done. If our labours shall result in 
clearing up difficulties, connected with controverted 
questions — in removing erroneous impressions in 
reference to revealed truth, and thus tend to confirm 
the faith of the people of God, the great object we 
have had in view, will be attained. For this end we 
submit our book to the public and to the superintend- 
ing care of a gracious Providence. 

* Objections to Calvinism, pp. 174, 178. 



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